A few years back, Too Much Joy released their fourth album Mutiny , which was unfortunately largely ignored. Our heroes proceeded to chill out for awhile, playing live only minimally at best as they worked on songwriting and drinking beer. Cool. Enter Discovery Records last year and a beautiful partnership was formed. Now the TMJ boys have a new contract, a new album, and they're touring like weasels on speed. This is a good thing.
The new album is everything the old stuff was and more. The first thing I worried about was the band losing their sense of humor, but upon seeing the album artwork, a young couple naked in bed after sex simultaneously thinking ...Finally , I knew they were still in peak form. Inside you get the usual great booklet full of silly comments from the band, fun artwork, and clever lyrics. The band is listed not only by the instruments they play, but by the reviews they've received in various music magazines. As for William Wittman ("as yet unreviewed bass and singing") let me go on record right now as saying the man can power his way through a bassline better than most, and his falsetto puts Tiny Tim to shame.
Which brings me to the music itself. The band is rocking harder than ever, but with the same great sense of melody and fun they've always shown. On the opening track, "You Will", they comment on those AT&T commercials where Tom Selleck tells us about what we'll get to do in the future: "Have you been faxed at the beach? / You Will-and you will not be scared / Have you felt our awesome reach? / You Will-and you will not be scared.../ Have you worshipped at our feet? / You Will..."
The whole album is great fun to hum and sing along with, and the lyrics cover everything from love to confusion about the world in general. I can't stress just how fun this album is; to understand one must experience it for themselves. Fast-paced, interesting, and well worth your cash. Let's hope the general public gets exposed to Too Much Joy this time around. The only unfortunate thing is that their previous albums are now out of print, a problem which will hopefully be solved in the near future. For the time being, get ...Finally , fall in love with it, and then search those used CD shops near you. Over and out.
