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Category: Album Review

  • The First Year by Here For You

    The First Year by Here For You

    Note From the Author: This review was originally posted on the Start-track blog.

    Artist: Here For You

    Album: The First Year 

    Released: October 25, 2025; Atlanta Zone Records 

    Here For You is a band from Brooklyn, New York and on their first album: “The First Year” they offer up an eclectic mix of folk and pop. I actually covered “Theme Song 2” their last single for this album a few weeks ago here on the blog[This is in reference to this Start-track blog post].  I bring this up because it is my favorite song from the album and I feel like if you haven’t checked it out yet, you definitely should. 

    “French Toast” is hands down my second favorite song from the album, mainly because it is a very tongue and cheek reflection on the food industry, food culture and marketing. It does this under the guise of a song about enjoying breakfast and all conveniences provided by modern times that make it great.. It’s an up beat song that is highly infectious. It is hard not to start singing along. About a minute into the song there is a jazzy bit that is really fun. It is a pure bop. 

    There is an extraordinary vibe presented by “Night at Maud’s”. I would frankly, be remiss for failing to mention it. The song starts out with an extremely twangy guitar riff that is quite enjoyable.The group vocals are exceptional and the distorted guitar that ends the song is a great finish. The lyrics are about hot summer nights in the city and that is just about as relatable as anything. All this adds up to equal the ultimate sit and chill song.

    “Brunson Floater” is a song about the people in your life that you can always count on for support and wanting to reciprocate that support. I must confess that I had to google the name of the song because it presented a metaphor I wasn’t New York and/or sporty enough to initially understand. That being said, I think its rather delightful now that I am in the know. This song features some more group vocals that I think work really well.

    The last song that I want to talk about is “Go Forth”. This is probably the song on the album that is the most folk punk in terms of vocal presentation, which is something that I quite like. And again the group vocals in the song are superb. What I really like about this song in particular is the ending lyrics are borrowed from a Utah Phillips song. Aside from me personally being a Utah Phillips appreciator in general, I think that there is a direct line between his music and themes of solidarity, friendship, and finding joy presented in the song and in the album in general. To me, it feels very much like modern folk paying homage to someone who helped shape the genre. 

    “The First Year” by Here For You can be defined largely by its poppy folk performance, its use of stellar group vocals, and its themes of overcoming adversity through solidarity and friendship. On top of all that, they still manage to fit in a dash or two of punk rock attitude. This is a very strong first album and I am definitely looking forward to more from Here For You in the future. 

    If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase The First Year by Here For you via Amazon Music 

  • 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.