Joeyfat - The Unwilling Astronaut LP
A collection of singles and rarities from the genuine treasure of the UK underground. Remastered and available on vinyl for the first time ever.
In the post-1990's UK musical family tree there's ONE band at the top of the left-hand side. A secret family member, the one the rest of the family are scared to talk of, the black sheep, the one that didn't play by the rules. The king of the tree.
Let us re-introduce you to: Joeyfat.
There are young scamps climbing up festival line-ups all over the world with more than a passing sonic and aesthetic resemblance. We don't think it's elitist to say we know how and why some of these bands sound the way they do. Influence can be picked up in diluted ways. The true source of the river has been forgotten, the family member with the radical ideals lost to time. Foals heard the source, they were there. So were Everything Everything. Ask them. Black Midi heard it third hand. Life Without Buildings heard it. So did Yard Act. You can see the pattern.
Joeyfat, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, are the daddy of all the Sprechgesang bands out there. We searched on Wikipedia; they're not even mentioned. Maybe not such a bad thing.
From the early '90s Joeyfat, led by Matt Cole and Jason Dormon, have been perfecting and re-perfecting the sound. They toured with Green Day in 1994. They released music on the Fierce Panda label. They recorded BBC Sessions for John Peel and Marc Riley. They released four albums and countless singles. They flirted with being known and they didn't like what they saw so they kept it local. They set up the Tunbridge Wells Forum, one of the great UK small venues. They released their records on Unlabel, a label based in their hometown. They built a local community, there's nothing more righteous than that.
They're a band that have never cared about taking over the world, but we know the world will find them. We're convinced the cream always rises. It doesn't happen when you expect it to. It can take years. In centuries time humans will look back at music from 1950-2050 and lump it all together. The Beatles and Napalm Death will be the same to future human ears. Unbiased by the payola-riddled press and radio they'll make their own assessments. There will be cover stars forgotten. There will be stadium-sell-out bands cast aside. The cream will rise.
We at Wrong Speed have been watching Joeyfat live for 30 years now. One of our bands played at the House Of The Fat album launch. We were at the live Peel session the band did. We've been in countless bands with Joeyfat members and ex-members, they are an elite sort.
We're genuinely thrilled to be reissuing two Joeyfat records. The House Of The Fat is a masterpiece, the musical precision reminds us of The Sound or B52s. The spot-on attack of the vocal and lyrics makes us think of Fugazi or Zounds. The Unwilling Astronaut compiles early singles and compilation tracks. Going all the way back to 1993 it shows how close to a DC-inspired hardcore band they were, it's a thrilling listen.
Joeyfat shouldn’t need a re-introduction but they’re going to get one. The world needs to know the source of the river. The world needs to know who's at the top of the family tree, where the resemblance comes from.
Wrong Speed Records