Reviews: Joel Plaskett, Pharis & Jason Romero, and Tobias Jesso Jr.

Joel Plaskett: The Park Avenue Sobriety Test

The Park Avenue Sobriety Test is Joel Plaskett’s fourth solo album (one of those, Three, was a triple—yes, you read that correctly—album,) though that’s a highly misleading number. There have been six albums billed as the Joel Plaskett Emergency, a few EPs and we won’t even mention his old band Thursh Hermit. On top of all this he’s been intimately involved in the production of several notable albums (including last year’s I Never Sang Before I Met You with Old Man Luedeck.) To call his output prodigous is an understatement. It’s also all almost universally good, and a high standard to live up to.

It turns out that huge smile Plasket wears is indicative of a man who’s in exactly the place he wants to be and the Park Avenue Sobriety Test continue his solid track record with a collection of songs that look back on his life in a self-reflective way. “Oh the good times we had / I remember the lads / We could take any turn on a dime” the album’s opener begins “I don’t want to leave it behind.”

It’s no surprise that the rest of the album lives nicely up to the standard set by On a Dime. Alright Ok has the kind of quirky foot tapping beat behind it that Plaskett’s band is known for (it’s vaguely reminiscent of his classic Work Out Fine to my ear, and it sounds great.)

The albums’s got a nice natural live from the floor feeling too it—you can hear Plaskett talking to the staff at his New Scotland Yard studio several times through the record—and that lends a nice touch, particularly on Song For Jersey, a song which plays out as progression of short couplets of memories “Now I’ve got a little boy” he sings “and all my songs are silly / If I have a little boy I might name him Philly” midway through before following up with “God I miss John Candy / If I have a little girl I won’t name her Sandy.”

As an album, it’s hard to find fault with The Park Avenue Sobriety Test. On the spectrum from “Quiet Singer Songwriter” to “Rock & Roll Joel” the album lands squarely in the middle with enough upbeat material to satisfy your inner indie rocker interlaced with the kind of quieter moments that songs like Hard Times provide. This is one of the finest albums to cross my desk so far this year. I’m tempted to suggest that it’s destined for the Polaris Prize shortlist but given my track record that might be seen as something of a jinx. Still, my fingers are crossed—Plaskett is one of the nicest personalities in Canadian music, and it would be good to see the tall, perenially smiling and charming East coaster rewarded for a solid addition to a one of the most consistently enjoyable catalogues of material in the business.

The Park Avenue Sobriety Test is slated for release on March 17th and you can preroder it in all the usual places, including from Plaskett’s own web site. It was recorded at Plaskett’s New Scotland Yard studio which you can learn all about here. Plaskett is touring through eastern Canada now before heading west in May. The tour is currently skipping Vancouver, probably because he’s playing the Squamish Valley Music Festival in the summer.

Pharis & Jason Romero: A Wanderer I’ll Stay

Horsefly, BC isn’t even a “blink and you’ll miss it” kind of town. It’s not, strictly speaking, a town at all but an “unincorporated community” a ten hour drive north from Vancouver in some of the most beautiful country you’ll find anywhere. It’s also home to Pharis & Jason Romero, whose third album A Wanderer I’ll Stay, sees the singing fiddle and banjo players back following up on the success of a string of folk festival appearances after their last release.
The couple’s album sees them reaching far into the past for inspiration with recorded versions of the Civil War era ballad “The Dying Solider” and Riley Puckett’s “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie.”

While these recordings are nicely placed on the album its real standouts are the married couple’s original compositions, including the excellent excellent eponymous title track and the possibly true to life tale “Ballad of Old William” about a local who was famously eaten by a bear. Both those tracks are duets, but Pharis’ voice is featured solo on a number of tracks including the spare and beautiful “Lonesome and I’m Going Home.”

It’s no surprise that there’s virtuoso banjo playing demonstrated here: the Romero’s custom made banjos put my Epiphone to shame and have found homes widely through the world.
One nice change to the Romero’s sound is the addition of other players to the album: there’s fiddle, pedal steel and drums in parts. This lends a nice, fuller sound to to the album without sacrificing the minimalism that made previous efforts so appealing.

A Wanderer I’ll Stay firmly cements Pharis & Jason Romero’s reputation in the acoustic folk circle and marks them as a duo to watch—you would do well to pair this album with anything from The Littlest Birds and a decent bourbon for an evening of summer listening  under a cloudless sky. If you need some company, just drop me a note—because that’s what I’ll be doing.

A Wanderer I’ll Stay is available now, and you can order it in a variety of formats directly from Pharis and Jason Romero’s web site, which also includes information about their very nice custom made banjos because life, as we all know, needs more banjo. At least mine does.

Tobias Jesso Jr.: Goon

It’s surprising sometimes how things drop into your lap. Tobias Jesso Jr. is a North Vancouver resident, which means he probably lives not more than 15km from my house. One of my work colleagues actually went to grade school with him—and I’d never heard even hard of him.

No matter, the rest of world has by now—a recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s show has drawn huge critical acclaim and is soon to be followed by a guest slot on the Conan O’Brien show. Not too shabby for a local boy and his piano.

Jesso’s album sparse, piano and vocal forward album forgoes overproduction in favour of highlighting the songwriter’s lyrical chops. It’s a good thing too, because there’s a lot to like there. The material covers well trod territory with the themes of relationships and loss, but does it in a style that’s not often heard: Without You adds a gentle touch of reverb to Jesso’s vocal sounds like it could be an outtake from an early John Lennon solo session.

The entire album, in fact, is a refreshing return to simple songwriting and lyrical purity. “Don’t you hate it when you mess up with a friend / Around the bend / Thinking this can be the end” begins Can We Still Be Friends “No one’s right / and no one’s wrong.” This is lyrically timeless stuff.

Jesso’s voice is beautiful and clear, which makes it hard to hear him say that “I have yet to come to terms with my singing voice, but at the time I was left with no other option.” We should all be so lucky.
As a debut Goon is an amazing collection of songs that will sound immediately familiar and fresh. It’s one of the most repeatedly listenable collections I’ve heard in a long time. 

It’s hard to find a standout track here, mostly because I’d hate to leave something out. Leaving Loss Angeles’ low-fi slightly fuzzed out production grabs the ear immediately, and stands out a bit. but you won’t go wrong with anything else either.
Goon seems destined to be a classic—let’s just hope the burden of the comparisons the songwriter is receiving to legends of the past doesn’t prove too much for the young songwriter’s career, because this…this is the sort of thing I want to hear more of.

Goon is slated for release on March 17, 2015 on Arts & Craft. You can find various links to order it on Tobias Jesso Jr.’s web site which also features a pretty snazzy set of piano lessons if, like me, you couldn’t find Middle C to save your life. Jesso is on tour in North America, and dates are also on the site.