Perhaps best known for his role as Steve Harrington in the popular Netflix science fiction show Stranger Things, Joe Keery has been releasing music under the name Djo for nearly six years now, and it really is a heap of fun. There’s the playful glam rock of ‘Link‘, the pretty twelve-string guitar of ‘Potion‘ and the affecting title track – a piano-led ballad, ‘Crux‘, which closes the album, for starters. That should tell you how much variation there is on this, Keery’s third full length. One thing’s steadfastly apparent though – the talented actor is clearly a fan of all things seventies. There are all sorts of artists you could surmise have been an influence, and every of them is largely associated with that decade. The tracks on Crux are very much steeped in it too, and this absolutely works to the record’s advantage.
That said, when ‘Lonesome Is A State Of Mind’ bursts in (after what seems to be an eerily tongue in cheek Twilight Zone kind of introduction), sure, you can certainly level suggestions of inspiration from Paul McCartney or George Harrison‘s earliest post-Beatles work, but there’s also a bang up to date production style that imply more of a nod towards the likes of MGMT, Empire Of The Sun or Family Of The Year. It really is SUCH a blast.
One of the best moments on Crux though, comes in the form of the album midpoint, ‘Egg‘. Slightly off-kilter, stripped back and slightly sinister sounding, it’s halfway between Supertramp and Sparks, which, as it turns out, is a quite wonderful combination!
‘Gap Tooth Smile‘, delightfully, recalls Pixies circa Doolittle with its crunching guitars, if only on its verses, elsewhere recalling both The Cars and the Tom Robinson Band in equal measure. It’s difficult not to sit here with an inane grin on your face, to be perfectly honest.
‘Golden Line‘ though has The Beatles written all over it, like a lost Lennon and McCartney classic. I’d be absolutely gobsmacked if Keery claimed the fab four WEREN’T a major factor when he wrote this one. It’s gorgeous though, there’s no denying that.
Throughout the twelve tracks on Crux, Joe Keery proves time and again that he’s not just a pretty face, and not even just a great actor – he’s also a very accomplished musician and songwriter with a huge future ahead of him. It’s nearly summer, and I can see this record making its way onto my car stereo for many weeks indeed. A real feelgood album and a bundle of fun.
Crux is out now on AWAL.
