January Brings Joy

There's this part in 'Elf' when Santa returns to the North Pole after a hard night of delivering presents. He tells the happy elves, "All right, all right. We've had another very successful year." They cheer. "So, after all that hard work, it's time to start preparations for next Christmas!" More cheering.

That's where we are today, isn't it? We just finished our lists of the best albums/songs/EPs/reissues, and now it's time to start listening for this year's contenders. You can cheer now. There are a slew of interesting new releases on the calendar for January, and the first vital release of 2020 (I almost typed 2019) for me comes out next Friday when 'The Private Memoirs and Confessions of The Just Joans' hits the shelves. If you're already a fan of the Glaswegians (and why wouldn't you be?), you already know what to expect. If you're new to the charms of siblings David and Katie Pope, you need go only as far as the song titles to get a taste of what you're in for:

1. Hey Ho, Let's Not Go
2. Who Does Susan Think She Is?
3. Wee Guys (Bobby's Got a Punctured Lung)
4. Dear Diary, I Died Again Today
5. My Undying Love for You is Starting to Die
6. When Nietzsche Calls
7. The Older I Get, The More I Don't Know
8. The One I Loathe The Least
9. Another Doomed Relationship
10. Holiday
11. People I Once Knew
12. Like Yesterday Again

Put more succinctly by Fika Recordings, the album "is a veritable smorgasbord of misery, longing and unrequited love; stories of small town resentments, half-forgotten school friends, failing relationships and awkward workplace conversations." I don't know about you, but that sounds right up my alley. If it's half as good as 2017 album 'You Might Be Smiling Now​,' we're in for a real treat. Preorder now.



Back next time with another album to mark on your calendar, and this band resides right down the road from the Just Joans.