By Laura Glick
"No one wants to go up against the Johnny."
Meet Vancouver’s Another Joe. Spewing a bevy of punk rock, the young trio show tremendous lyrical and song growth on their latest full-length, Plasti Scene.
"We’re the most proud of that CD out of all of them," says vocalist/guitarist Jon Glen. "We put way more time into the structures of the songs and the feel of the songs. We didn’t want to do another record that was 125 miles-per-hour straight through the whole song, front to end. With Plasti Scene there’s more ups and downs, it’s more moody."
Indeed the 10 tracks on the album show greater variety than previous efforts and highlight the band’s assets: crunchy, energetic vocals kissing seedy drum beats.
The album also captures the content nature of the band, revealing they’re finally comfortable in their skin and behind their instruments.
"With our previous CD’s it was way more selfish," explains Glen. "It made no difference to me who was reading the lyrics. [On] this one I didn’t write so much about relationships. There’s media topics that I’ve touched on and peer pressure stuff, and I actually wanted people to read it."
They are not, however, a political band.
"We’re very cautious of that. We don’t want to get pigeonholed into anything," he continues. "There’s a song called ‘Radio’ on [Plasti Scene] and it’s more of a media power song. People don’t realize how incredibly powerful the media is and how it sways everyone."
Another Joe, on the other hand, likes to stay away from political rings and remain in personal ones. Keeping a strong personal relationships is important to them, especially now since they are on the road with Smallman Record labelmates Choke and Layaway Plan.
Together since the beginning of March, the three bands will finish off a Western Canada run in Edmonton. From there Another Joe will make rounds on the East Coast, slide down to California, and possibly finish off by making a video when they return to BC.
They will be stopping in Calgary at the Multicultural Centre Mar. 18 for an all-ages stint. Glen promises energy and exuberance executed with style.
"You’ll walk away happy."