Jovi Skyler’s New Album, Nothing to Do, Adroitly Mixes Grunge, Punk and Psychedelic Music
Seeing as how I run a record label that releases punk, hardcore, ska and metal music, I tend to focus on those genres when I select submitted music to review. Oftentimes people will suggest something as punk or post punk due to a specific attitude or feeling even if it doesn’t fit the classic punk sound, and I’m actually okay with that. I know for some diehards, punk has to be heavily distorted bar chords with rapid fire drums and overdriven in-your face vocals, but since punk is about rejecting boundaries put on us by others, then I am happy to reject that formula as the only true version of punk. Whether its bands like Velvet Underground, The Replacements, The Minutemen, Suicide or The Butthole Surfers, there are other means of being punk without having to fit into that preconceived mold.
It is with that in mind that I introduce you all to Jovi Skyler’s new release Nothing to Do.
The album opens with “If You Think So” which has elements of The Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr. and The Beatles with various builds and lulls and a catchy as hell “sha la la la” for everyone to sing along to. Love the intro where Jovi mouths the rhythm of the song like when someone is trying to explain a riff to you when they don’t have a guitar.
The video mixes anime with psychedelic colors that perfectly fit the vibe of the song. I particularly liked the hand at the end. You’ll have to watch to see what I mean.
Check it here:
The next song,“Nervosa “, opens with vocals that make me think a little bit of Iggy Pop in his later days or some Sonic Youth. It’s a hi-point when the guitars switch to a cleaner sound and the drums propel us into a big hook chorus with a high pitched plaintive sounding vocals that are a great contrast to the laid back vocals that opened the song. I could see this as a hit on HFS radio in Baltimore back in the 1990s with Jovi playing the HFS Festival or Lollapalooza.
My next taste, “Evergreen” was chosen because it was the shortest song, so I figured it’d probably be faster and harder, and I was right. This song definitely kicks the speed up a notch and brings more of that aforementioned classic punk sound while it does also do that Pixies/Nirvana trick of going into a softer clean guitar sound to accent the bigger louder parts. Avail was known to do this too. It works because it works.
“Never Wanted” closes the track with a Lou Reed sounding vocal sound with rad guitar over a pretty sick galloped bass drum pattern. The chorus repeats the song title over and over in an emotional outcry that cuts to the quick. At around the two minute mark the song hits hard with excellent usage of angry fucks.
If you’re a fan of that 1990s psychedelic grunge with roots in punk rock then this shit is for you.
If I’m not mistaken, Jovi plays the guitar and the bass, and the drums are done via drum machine…don’t knock it, that’s all Big Black ever had! But that being said, when I hear something this good, I want to see it live, so it would rad as fuck if Jovi found some other musicians who could take the music and perform it live.
Check out the full album on Spotify here or listen to it on my playlist full of other bangers here
Check out their socials too: FB and Bandcamp
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(Keep in mind, I only review bands I actually like; you can go elsewhere for insincere or negative reviews.)
