Perfect pop-picker Johnno Casson ( aka Snippet), returns with brand new album.

Release Date:  22 April 2022

Label: Quirky Sounds

Formats: CD/Download

What is wonky pop?  It’s what Johnno Casson does, and he’s probably one of the finest exponents around today.

For anyone unfamiliar with Johnno (aka Snippet, aka Old Tramp, aka Walken 400) the time is now to correct it.  He’s been around a while since tickling the charts with early 90s house/club act Deep Joy, working with Andrew Weatherall and playing football with Adrian Sherwood and, during that time has produced some of the finest pop around.  What he possesses is the rare knack of writing catchy songs with immediate hooks and often thought-provoking lyrics, which become instant ear-worms that you struggle to let go of.  It’s time for grown adults to have a bit of fun and genuinely enjoy pop music again.

Chippa is seventeen tracks long, many are neatly packaged into three-minute bundles of joy and interspersed with several interludes that stitch the album together.  Overall, it gives the feeling of a soundtrack to a movie, telling the story of someone, somewhere, doing something in an everyday kind of way whilst retaining interest throughout.

It’s the sort of album that a non-English speaker could enjoy as it possessed such a feel-good quality.  It makes you tap your feet and smile and want to do silly, childish things with controlled abandon.  You’ll find yourself dancing in the shower and smirking in the car.  You’ll feel a warm glow from track to track – you might also get a little tingle down your spine.  If you haven’t guessed already, Chippa is a delightful album.

From the delightful playfulness of opening Good Day – forty-two seconds of piano and birds chattering – you’ll be hooked and lead track from the album Today I’m Gonna Be Happy does little to change things.  Chippa is a challenge, a challenge not to find yourself humming along, a challenge not to smile at the upbeat and uplifting pieces on show.  Even when Casson tells stories of misfortune, regret and loss, there is still an air of hope and promise.

Lyrically, he’s been compared to Ray Davies and Ian Dury – clever rhymes, highly descriptive situations and storylines that we can all relate to, he is a torch-bearer for songwriters everywhere.  With instrumentation that is wonderfully layered yet somehow simplistic, it’s the perfect combination.

As summer approaches, it’s time to get some sunlight into your life – Chippa is the answer.

Johnno Casson online: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp

If you would like to keep up with At The Barrier, you can like us on Facebook here, follow us on Twitter here, and follow us on Instagram here. We really appreciate all your support.