Artist: Joker’s Republic
Album: The Hand You’ve Been Dealt
Release: October 10, 2025; Punkerton Records
Joker’s Republic hails from northern New Jersey. They have been in the Ska game for many years and have released 3 previous albums. This time, they have teamed up with the legendary Roger from Less Then Jake to produce “The Hand You’ve Been Dealt”. As a dude that has liked LTJ for over 3+ decades now, I can honestly say this move makes total sense to me. Joker’s Republic definitely mines the same vein of Ska Punk that Roger has been excavating since the early 90s.
Hands down the best song on this album is “Long Road ahead”. Everything about it is great. From the very first line, “Don’t Despair… just kidding please despair” you know it’s going to be a banger. Seriously, that line is hilarious and really does a great job of easing the listener into what is all things considered, kind of heavy subject matter. It’s about the current state of *motions at everything*. However, despite telling you to despair, that overall message of the song is that we need each other to get through this. I am sure you know me. I am a huge sucker of a solidarity song, so of course this is going to make it high on my list. The thing that really makes the song for me is the vocals, especially at the start of the verse. They are amazing and a little reminiscent LTJ. If I were a betting man, I would wage that perhaps this might be a little bit of Roger at work. On the album in general, the vocals all have a certain Je ne c’est quoi that clearly demonstrates an overall level up. I very much enjoyed them for real.
“Sonic Intervention” is another really good song on the album. It benefits from the vocal stuff I mentioned earlier. It also happens to be a flavor of song I really enjoy. You see, I find music incredibly meaningful. So it follows that, I also enjoy songs that are about how other people find meaning in music and its power to shape us all. It’s a real bop that everyone should listen to. It’s got a great ska riff and the overall guitar just goes hard.
Finally, I think it would be an absolute travesty, if I didn’t talk about “No Safe Harbor”. This is a song met to vocalize expectations for the scene, much in the same ilk as “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”. We need more of these kinds of songs and it is great the Joker’s Republic put one out on this record. I really enjoyed the sing talky bit that starts in the last 50 seconds of the the song as well as the guitar that accompanies it. No safe harbor for bigots in the ska/punk scene.
I was down for this release as soon as it was announced. When I found out about Roger’s involvement, it was just like the butter on the movie theater popcorn I was going to get anyways. 2022 “Necessary Evil” was a fantastic album but The Hand You’ve Been Dealt really changes the game on what a peak Joker’s Republic album can be. It’s got crisp ska riffs, stellar vocals, political critique that is just salty enough that you become thirsty for more with a little Roger drizzled on top to make it all come to together. If you are a general ska enjoyer, this album is for you. If you are a fan of Less Than Jake and are on the fence about Joker’s Republic for some reason, I think this is the album that will sell them to you.