Joey's Loss

Item: Unwelcome Travelers and Other Brave Men
Author: Phil Nichols

Unwelcome Travelers and Other Brave Men

(2004)

Reviewed by Phil Nichols

Discogs Bandcamp

Label Indie Vision MusicDecapolisOctober 2004

emo indie rock post-hardcore punk

Not long ago I was driving through the lovely state of Michigan on a long and tedious road trip. After many hours without stopping I began looking for a place to get out and stretch before continuing on my trek. It was at this moment that I spotted a sign: The Spam Museum- Free Admission. Well, what could I do? I got off on the next exit and sure enough there, standing boldly against the scenic backdrop, was the Spam Museum.

I spent the next hour wandering through exhibits, movies, sampling rooms, and the enormous Spam gift shop. All the while I had an almost transcendent feeling, as if I were experiencing a small glimpse of what heaven will one day be like. But time dragged on and, as they say, all good things must come to an end. So I got back in my car and continued on to my final destination.

By nightfall I was rather hungry and the lingering taste of Spam from my overindulging in the museum's free samples left me with an unquenchable hankering for some pre-processed canned meat. I stopped at a grocery store to scope out the selection: but alas, there was no Spam. All that lined that dismal aisle were the imitators, the wannabes. Sure, the packaging looked similar. The colors, the nutrition facts, the bold lettering, it all looked like Spam, and yet these cans reeked of unoriginality.

And, just then, it hit me. Enlightenment descended from above right there in the middle of the canned meat section of the grocery store: the imitation can never surpass that which it imitates. The original will always be better. It was so simple, yet so profound.

By now you are probably wondering if any of this is relevant at all. What does Spam have to do with Joey's Loss? The answer: more than you might think. You see, the divine wisdom imparted to me in the canned meat section proves true not only with second-rate Spam derivatives, but also with music.

Joey's Loss has been around for six years. They have worked hard to build a reasonably large fan base independent of any label or public relations support. Albums, transportation, travel, gear, merchandise, all of it was purchased and maintained solely by the band. Now that's D.I.Y! Joey's Loss released two full-length albums and a limited run EP and has taken the stage alongside Anberlin, Cool Hand Luke, and many others. Now, while all of that sounds very impressive, it really doesn't tell you anything about the band's style (this is where the Spam Theory comes into play).

Joey's Loss is basically a punk band trapped in a rock band's body. Musically, they cling to the tried-and-true four chord progressions with an occasional superfluous guitar riff to mix things up. Lyrically, Joey's Loss goes the religious route, dealing primarily with themes related to Christianity. The production is also very well done and matches the tone of the album nicely.

But...

As stated before: Imitators cannot surpass those that they imitate. And unfortunately, much of this album is comprised of things that we have all heard many times before. The songs sound very similar and lack the change in tempo to make the album flow smoothly from beginning to end. The vocals are also pretty weak (and occasionally pitchy) on many of the disc's tracks. A little bit of touch-up with ProTools would have worked wonders in some places. And finally, the lyrics, while they are well written for the most part, lack the innovation and creativity both in style and in content to stand out among the competition.

With all of that said, Unwelcome Travelers is not a bad album, it is just sort of mediocre. It is much like the imitation Spam: the packaging looks decent, but on the inside it's just another derivative of the original. Granted, if you want something to hold you over for a little while, then by all means, Joey's Loss is as good as the hundreds of similar bands vying for the next nanosecond of your attention. But if you are really looking for something substantial, why get the imitation when you can get the Spam?

2/4