Joe McCorriston and ‘The Party We Came For’.

Joe McCorriston – Morecambe, England, United Kingdom.

Cover photo credit: Roseanna Hanson – Click Here.
(Above) Photo credit – Alexi LaFey.
For our previous work on Joe McCorriston – Click Here.

The Morecambe based Joe McCorriston has been making music since 2010 and in that time has accumulated quite the collection of releases and live spots up and down this Island, sometimes with just a guitar in hand and others alongside faithful friends and fellow musicians.

The singer-songwriter world is one that is often labelled as over saturated, many roll their eyes at the thought of a scruffy twenty something singing in the back of a pub on open mic night, covering the same old or lamenting to the sad past.

Now, as much a persons opinion is their own and music is often (badly) recycled, what you get with artists such as Joe McCorriston and others featured on MF for that matter, such as Harrison Rimmer and Wolfe Sunday for example, is far more than the token feelings and recycled love songs.

It isn’t just about the good ones played on national radio…

‘Alive’ battles self worth as your perception of your own is challenged by the “standards” of the society we inhabit. The semi-acoustic structure of this album is already something notable, with Marc Holland and Charlie Burns deserving a pat on the back for holding their own.

‘C’est La Vie Part 2’ channels this Folk-infused Alternative Rock further in a track that although sad, embodies the very meaning of its namesake. ‘I was thinking of you today, how I couldn’t wait to see you go away, but nothings changed […] It takes a little time to feel the change.’

‘Cardboard Is Heavy Sometimes’ carries a cutting wit and marks some of the best and relatable lyrics on the release, while musically it breaks into an almost harsh Folk Punk sound that I would really like to see live with a full band at some stage and more so in the forthcoming tracks yet unheard.

‘Castle Hill’ and ‘Stomach Lining’ mark more of the “down to earth” and rounded word-smithery in the more traditional singer-songwriter Folk with McCorriston’s playful accent shining. ‘Stomach Lining’ is song of determination and the daily struggle of negativity, reinforcing what we all know and don’t want to admit, that only we can change whatever it is that us keeping down.

‘Destiny’ is another calmer gentle Folk Rock track with a plot I will leave no spoilers for, while ‘It’s Not My Place’ perhaps hits as hard as it does with its political overtones because it is simply one man, a guitar and inspiration, be it negative or no.

‘It’s Not My Place’ doesn’t just concern that however, hateful behaviour and justification can lead a person to many a dark place and often inward shame.

The cantankerous Punk-charge I was so pleased to have experienced earlier returns in ‘Blockbuster Blues’. A great deal of underground British music in the loosely fitting singer-songwriter camp often leans towards a Punk flirtation as if it was natural and that is something I and many others utter no complaints about.

‘I Like It Here’ is perhaps the rawest and most stylistically Punk-Rock on the the release. As a penultimate track and a representation of the raw emotionality that inspires much of McCorriston’s music, the conviction of the track is clear and its genre stylistics welcoming but with all that said, it lacks the corresponding vocal aggression to complete the equation.

‘My Own Company’ falls back on the traditional stripped down formula quite unexpectedly so in regard to its placement. With the album channeling more of the harder stylistic in its latter stages, you can’t help but feel that the final two should have been alternated in their placement.

However, said gripe is only secondary to the fact that despite the abrupt change in style, the album still manages to finish strongly and stands testament to the hard work of all those involved and the underground world of singer-songwriters.

Find Joe McCorriston and his music below:

• For updates head to Facebook and Twitter.
• For all of Joe McCorriston’s music to date, head to bandcamp, iTunes/Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer and BigCartel.
• For videos and streaming, head to his Youtube Channel.
• For Wolfe Sunday – Click Here and for Harrison Rimmer – Click Here.

#StayFresh.