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Category: Album Review

  • The Hand You’ve Been Dealt by Joker’s Republic

    The Hand You’ve Been Dealt by Joker’s Republic

    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. 

  • Nelson Comes to Visit Vol. 2: Negative thoughts about myself and people I love dearly by Superdestroyer//Leave Nelson B

    Nelson Comes to Visit Vol. 2: Negative thoughts about myself and people I love dearly by Superdestroyer//Leave Nelson B

    Artist: Superdestroyer //Leave Nelson B

    Album: NCTV Vol. 2: Negative thoughts about myself and people I love dearly

    Release: October 17, 2025; Lonely Ghost Records

    I am gong to be honest with y’all. Initially, I wasn’t going to review this album. You see this would be the 3rd Superdestroyer project reviewed on the blog as well as the third Leave Nelson B project. Then, the first single hit and I realized that what is the point of running a music blog if I am not going to write about the music that I truly enjoy. So, at the risk of becoming a Superdestroyer//Leave Nelson B stan blog, I present y’all my review of Nelson Comes To Visit Vol. 2: Negative thoughts about myself and people I love dearly. 

    Something that I initially missed in my review of the first NCTV album was its overarching narrative. There were definitely hints of it there but for me at least the whole of the narrative wasn’t really revealed to me until I was watching interviews and press stuff after my review was written. This time around, I think Superdestroyer and Leave Nelson B have utilized musical elements to really sell that overarching narrative and specifically the character arch of the narrative’s POV character. For example, the guitar in track 1 “Limerance” ties it directly to the 2nd track on the album “I will close my eyes and astral project where you are”. Limerance also contains lyrics from the 5th track on the album “You only like me when I’m numb”. To me, this is an indication that the songs are not only related to each other but are also narratively important.  Finally, that last track of the album, “I can’t relate” is something like a reprise of “I will astral project where you are” except it acts as a resolution to the narrative. 

    So what NCTV Vol: 2 offers narratively is the story of a person who is deeply infatuated with a loved one. Limerance being a kind romantic attraction that is often overwhelming and obsessive. 

    “I will astral project to where you are” illustrates that our POV uses this relationship and thought of his loved one as a way of zoning out, rather than dealing with people that don’t like or respect him or even engage with him as equals. Astral projection here being a metaphor for him imagining being with his loved one rather than dealing with whoever is currently talking to him. 

    Then, in “You only like me when I’m numb”,  we get somewhat of a turning point for our POV. The first half of the song is  where he begins to realize that he isn’t getting all he needs out of his relationships. Perhaps from the people he is trying to avoid in “I will astral projection were you are” or from his loved one. To me, everything from about 30 seconds into the song to about 1 minute 13 is pretty illustrative of a crash out and of spiraling intrusive thoughts.  Everything after seems more self reflective and a realization that he can only ever control half a relationship and an acceptance that the other half has to take responsibility for it as well. 

    Finally, in “I can’t relate” our POV finds himself back talking to another unpleasant person. Rather than falling back to bad habits, he chooses to instead take responsibility for himself. Solid growth is demonstrated here by our POV. It is a great resolution to the narrative, because you are not doing yourself or your relationships any favors by packing them full of preconceived notions and expectations that the others in involved may not even know about or fully understand. 

    The last song shout out I want to hit is “Doomed Planet”. I absolutely love the piano and synth found in this song. I have also mentioned before, in another review, that I am a fan of archive audio. I can’t say for sure that this song uses it cause surprising as it might seem I haven’t heard all the archival audio, but it is clear that this song means to invoke that feel. I like the vibe the overall song gives and its placement on the album. It sits in a key spot and acts like another sign post for the narrative as it wraps up. 

    All the tracks on this album are masterfully composed and while I have chosen to highlight the narrative in this review, I want to make it clear the music does in fact go hard. I love all the synthesizer work quite a lot. In general, it is also heavier than the last NCTV album which I think is a great move to illustrate the darker nature of this outing.

    NCTV Vol, 2 follows up to the album Nelson Comes To Visit, released in 2024. It was an exceptional album that could quite rightly be considered my album of the year if I did that kind of thing. Does this release live up to that pedigree? The short answer is yes. I honestly feel that if you are a fan of electronic music, punk or rock, you are willfully missing out on something extraordinary if you are still sleeping on Superdestroyer and Leave Nelson B. They are both very talented individuals and when they team up you know what you are getting is going to be good.