Too Much Joy - ...Finally (1996)

I've lived with this disc for a couple of months now, spinning it almost daily during that time and, like the Rancid album reviewed elsewhere, have yet to tire of it. Every listen brings something to the forefront, some undiscovered musical dimension, a new favorite song. From the unrelenting energy and weeping guitar riffs of You Will, a wicked little bit of social satire that opens ...Finally, to the working class blues of Underneath A Jersey Sky, New York rockers Too Much Joy have returned with a vengeance.

Formed the better part of a decade ago by a bunch of high school buddies with similar tastes in British punk and American pop, Too Much Joy made a splash on the indie rock scene with their 1988 Alias Records release Son Of Sam I Am. With a backing soundtrack of classic guitar rock and punkish energy, the band's smart ass lyrics and wise-guy stance served them well through a handful of well-received albums. After an unassuming sojourn into major label land, followed by a brief hiatus, TMJ have signed with the newly reactivated Discovery Records and delivered what is the best effort in their lengthy career with ...Finally.

With a musical style that travels across some three decades of rock history, mixing the disparate influences of sixties pop electricity, seventies arena rock bombast and eighties punk attitude and sincerity, ...Finally is a solid batch of songs. If the band isn't quite as ascerbic, lyrically, as they once were, well...they've gotten older and a bit wiser. They haven't lost an iota of their youthful enthusiasm, however, with cuts like the retrospective, self-effacing Weak or the soaring Different Galaxies providing invigorating evidence of their commitment and talents. Even if their smart ass antics have been toned down, the band's tongue is still firmly placed in their collective cheeks. I Believe In Something mixes a philosophical search for the meaning of a friend's prolonged death ("My friend had his death foretold / When he was twenty-six years old / I say the right things they're no help / His body slowly eats itself") with the patently irreverent ("Twelve step programs are the new religion / Gideon bibles make good rolling papers"). How To Be Happy provides a different take on love and relationships, disdaining the lost love in one breath ("Learning how to be happy / And learning not to care") slipping into melancholy the next ("I've got the tiniest bedroom / It's gigantic without you / Do they have bedrooms where you are?").

...Finally showcases a band with a fine sense of pop style, and the chops to pull it off. Even the choice of Billy Bragg's wonderful A New England – here given a non-stop vocal delivery and punkish arrangement that is as far away as possible from Bragg's or Kirsty MacColl's hit versions of the song – illustrates the band's ability to take the familiar and imprint it with their own identity without losing the spirit of the original. Too Much Joy are a top notch band, from Tim Quirk's infectiously flawed vocals and lyrical romanticism to Jay Blumenfield's undervalued six string contributions and scorching leads. The rhythm section of Tommy Vinton and William Wittman aren't just content to back the guys up front; they provide a constant presence in each song, with Vinton's muscular drumming and Wittman's carefully crafted and fluid bass lines adding an integral element to the trademark Too Much Joy sound.

A magnificent comeback effort, ...Finally may finally win Too Much Joy the attention they deserve. I've always considered them to be a band ahead of their time, maybe it's time that alt-rock audiences caught up with them. ...Finally comes highly recommended, an early candidate for "best of the year" status. (Discovery Records)

(Click on the CD cover to buy ...Finally from Amazon.com)