Solo album #4 from Tribes’ frontman Johnny Lloyd.  Ten well-written, well-crafted and well-produced songs of love, loss and letting go.

Release Date:  31^st January 2025

Label: Xtra Mile Recordings

Formats: CD / Vinyl / Digital

SONGS OF LOVE, LOSS AND LETTING GO

Punchline is the fourth solo album from Tribes’ frontman Johnny Lloyd, and his first since 2021’s La La La.  It’s been worth the wait.

The songs for Punchline were written in late 2022, just around the time that the world was emerging from the enforced and prolonged period of COVID and lockdown naval-gazing. They reflect the self-examination that lockdown thrust upon us all and deal with themes that include love, loss and letting go.  These are songs that, already, are drawing comparisons to the work of Bright Eyes, Elliot Smith, Alex Turner and even Nick Drake. Comparisons not been made idly or with any exaggeration whatsoever.

WELL-WRITTEN, WELL-CRAFTED AND WELL-PRODUCED SONGS

Punchlines is produced by Max Clilverd, who has worked previously with Tom Odell and Holly Humberstone, as well as with Johnny on his earlier solo albums.  He’s done a sterling job, of that there’s no doubt and Johnny is rightfully proud of the end result. As he explains: “If there was one album I’ve made to showcase my music, I would want it to be this one.  I started writing the album at the end of 2022 when the world was still transitioning out of the pandemic and I feel like that feeling is present in the music.  I pushed as hard as I could creatively go to places I haven’t previously been…  I am very grateful for the amazing musicians who played on this album and to Max Clilverd for bringing it together.”

The release of Punchline follows a prolific period in Johnny’s schedule. A period in which he’s written songs for television and film (earning the RTS Best Original Music Award) as well as working on a new album (and planning a tour) with Tribes.  It’s paid off. Punchline is a collection of ten well-written, well-crafted and well-produced songs.  Very early days yet, I know, but Punchline is the best thing I’ve heard so far this year.

A WELL-EARNED COMPARISON

Opening track (and latest single) Roller King sets the agenda for Punchline.  A soft rock mood, peppered with jazzy blasts of brass, provides the background Johnny’s bright, passionate vocals.  The song’s chorus is warm and folky and there’s a note of triumph in the “There’s nothing like love to stick to the blood” coda. 

Lead single, If You Love Them, Let Them Go, is folky and intimate and the song leaves the listener in no doubt that the Nick Drake comparison is well-earned.  It’s a song with the potential to grow and grow on anyone fortunate enough to hear it. With engaging, well-thought lyrics like: “Heartbreak – it starts within, then it pushes through your skin,” Johnny shows perception and sensitivity. 

Speaking of the song, Johnny has said: “If You Love Them, Let Them Go is a song that started life quite heavy. It wasn’t until I got it into the studio that I realized how personal it was and how it needed a softer, more Elliot Smith-type delivery.  It feels new, musically, to me and it was recorded beautifully…”

PASTORAL MANCHESTER

Another of the singles selected to preview Punchline, Manchester In Bloom slots nicely into the folky side of pop.  Johnny’s ‘passionate’ vocal style is back and Max’s production is spot on. Ultra-subtle bass, discrete percussion, splashes of twangy electric guitar and a dash of soothing sax.  The overall effect really does make Manchester sound like a summery, pastoral kind of place where you’d want to relax in a lush garden.

A complete change of mood emerges for the vibrant Personality Disorder. Chugging, fuzz-laden electric guitars, sharp percussion and gritty, echo-y, direct, vocals replace the previous contemplative musings.  The change is emphasized by the opening lyric: “I’m in the bathroom, banging my head against the wall.” Even so, contemplation isn’t completely abandoned. Particularly when the band back off to allow Johnny to declare: “She’s in my blood…”

TONES OF LENNON AND REED

Something of a 70s feel guides the excellent Bands In Economy. A discordant guitar intro introduces Johnny’s fuzzy recollections of a flight to Los Angeles.  Both sound and lyrics – and the spacey pedal steel – echo the disorientation that such an experience can invoke.  Johnny then pitches himself somewhere between the blues and Vaudeville for the deliciously sleazy Love, Death, Hate, Paranoia. There seems be more that a touch of John Lennon in Johnny’s voice as he sings: “Love, death, hate, paranoia – you can find ‘em on every corner.”

It isn’t John Lennon though, but Lou Reed, who seems to inhabit On The House.  A pair of acoustic guitars provide the persistent lick that drives the song along. Despite the adopted Brooklyn resonance in Johnny’s voice, the electric guitar solo and the harmony backing vocals provide reassurance.  There’s disappointment being expressed in Johnny’s lyrics but the song is so uplifting, that you have to search for it.

THE SPIRIT RETURNS

“Checking into my new life – the one with the swimming pool and the beautiful wife” is the opening couplet to the dreamy, easy-going Paradise On A Postcard. The dreamlike texture of the song is completed by subdued combo of trumpet and electric guitar.  If there was a hint of John Lennon about Love, Death, Hate, Paranoia, then Lennon’s spirit is back to fully inhabit Lifetimes.  Listen to the slightly muffled drums, the combined guitar and piano and Johnny’s echo-laden vocal. You’d be forgiven for assuming that you were listening to a previously unheard  John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band out-take. But – Lifetimes is very definitely Johnny Lloyd’s own work and another great song.

This excellent album is brought to its conclusion by the gentle, mellow I’ll Be Kind This Time.  The harmonies that underpin Johnny’s vocals are lovely and add to the intimacy of the song. The pedal steel soars and sparkles to bring the song and the album, to a satisfying, fulfilling close.

Listen to Roller King, the album’s opening track – and current single – here:

Johnny Lloyd online: Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp

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