Stream: Junk, ‘Junk’ (full album)

Kevin Bronson on September 5th, 2016

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It was with an almost comi-tragic insouciance that Junk released its self-titled album a week ago. It deserved more fanfare, or the backing of some uber-hip little label, or at least kegger in our backyard, where gangs of veteran rockers earn 21-cup salutes after crooning achingly about a beautiful girl named “Fuckface.” To review: Junk are Evan Weiss, Brandon Intelligator, Sam KS and Patrick Kelly, whose roots run deep in the L.A. scene. Weiss played in Wires on Fire, whose memorable-cos-it-was-kind-of-a-trainwreck set at the very first Fuck Yeah Fest set a standard for hearing loss and who went on to play in Jubilee, Slang Chickens and GIRLS. Appearing on the album are his brother, Darren Weiss (PAPA), Michael Schuman (Mini Mansions, Queens of the Stone Age, Wires on Fire) and Zach Dawes (Mini Mansions, the Last Shadow Puppets).

“Junk” is sticky as the Echoplex floor after emo night, and simply deliriously fun in places. An unfussy 11 songs over 29 minutes, it includes “Like a Cop,” the 7-inch released last year on FYF Records, the T. Rex groove of “Come Over,” a couple healthy doses of pop-punk and some straight-up classic rock dirtied up as only cheeky lads can do. It sounds the way Weiss describes its birthing: “I called up my brother. I called up some friends. Musical collaborators old and new. We laughed. We stayed up late. We ate. Drank. It felt good making this.”

And, “I thought long and hard about how to release this record … too hard. I’ll be honest, I overthought it,” he says. “I decided its time to put the fucking thing out. On our own.”

Acquire some “Junk” here or here.

||| Stream: “Junk”