This album was released in 1981, yes.. 1981. It's hard to imagine the singles from this album being played on the radio at the same as Blondie and Soft Cell. Well i haven't researched this so I'm not 100% sure, but i cant imagine them being played on the mainstream radio stations at all.
Josef K are an influential Scottish Post Punk band, who paved the way for the 'Revival' of the Scots in the 21st Century, we see artists such as Franz Ferdinand breaking through who bare a striking resemblance to Josef K. The band name has been taken from the Franz Kafka novel, The Trail, Josef K being the lead protagonist within the novel. I've just been reading some of the lyrics, it really does give me an idea on how educated Paul Haig is. It's happy to know that some artists do have intellectual singer songwriters within the band, putting those skills to practise within Post-Punk is only the right way to go about it. If we look at Mark Smith of The Fall, we see an exquisite writing style which nobody previously had portrayed within there lyrics.
The Only Fun In Town is Josef K's only studio album, for that i am happy, as a follow up would certainly not be as special or independent as this release. I might be wrong in saying this, some things just need to be left as they are, for instance i feel bands such as Glasvegas, should have either worked incredibly hard to create a new sound or image, or stop making music under that name altogether. This is because i really enjoyed the self titled they released in 2008, it was special in it's own unique way. It touched upon Shoegaze and kept an alternative look on 'Indie'. But they let themselves down by releasing a mediocre album this year, it's a shame.
Fun 'N' Frenzy kicks off the album with jangly guitars and a driving bas riff. This is exactly the kind of dark spirited music which Josef K create on this album, so if you're reading this whilst listening to the album, you have been warned. It's nice to hear the production really keeping Josef K intact here, the song is over before you've had a chance to express your initial opinion. It's a cracking opener for this album in my opinion, you can really feel the energy and low fidelity.
Similar patters follow for the entire album, some will think this is a bad thing, but the songs are fresh. Josef K are not bad musicians, they are able to create songs which make you want to listen on, you are able to distinguish tracks, even if the style is separate and restricted. This is Post-Punk however, it's what the listener expects.
Just listening to Crazy To Exist, i find myself dancing along, it's carefully energetic, keeping with the serious style the band magnify with there music. This song has always been one of my favourites because of the delicate chorus, which really does excite me, the dynamic change and vocal harmony really keeps your attention, 'It's crazy to exist'.
With most albums, some songs stand out. As i previously stated, Fun 'N' Frenzy is a nice and neat song for the album, Crazy To Exist being one of the 'singles' as well as my favourite track. We also have Sorry For Laughing which closes the album. This funky 3 minute track has a real emphasis on bass and a very fast style of play.
After listening to the 29 minute long album, you stop to wonder what you were just listening to. The production isn't top quality, however in general fairness, for the budget, which i can only imagine being generally low, the album sounds really good. the Jangly guitars and moving bass really help to keep you interested in the band.
~Eddie
~Eddie
8.9
