DIY Thoughts and The New EP ‘Pre-Drinks’ From Joe McCorriston.
Joe McCorriston – Morecambe, England, United Kingdom.
Photo credit: Roseanna Hanson – Click Here.
As a purist, a discussion I’ve had countless times surrounds the pros and cons of the “DIY” approach to music. A lot of the music I listen to crosses over into intentionally Lo-Fi sounding production, and, as a rule, it’s not something I get on board with.
Inevitably, with every rule comes exceptions, and Joe McCorriston’s EP Pre-Drinks certainly falls under that umbrella. Recorded entirely live, in one take, there’s not a great deal further down the DIY route that this kid could have gone; unexpectedly, it works.
The point where my argument against Lo-Fi music tends to fall short is when people bring up the “raw” feel of the record, and how it’s a pure, unadulterated reflection of the artist’s feelings at the time of writing the songs.
Photo credit: Jack Williams.
My approach to this was always ‘Yeah, but wouldn’t it be better if it sounded good?’ – again, Pre-Drinks is an exception. It absolutely gets the feel across of someone who’s been in the scene for a while, and still has an unconditional, intimate love with his career; and I don’t think this is something that could be properly represented with studio based over-production.
Over the last 5 years Joe seems to have had a very fruitful career, and if I wasn’t already, at this point I’m asking myself ‘why hadn’t I heard of this guy earlier‘? He’s toured with highly acclaimed artists like Frank Turner and The Blockheads and has undertaken over twenty UK runs around Morecambe and the far beyond.
The new EP was released spontaneously on April 1st, as part of the run up to his new third album, with two of the tracks being acoustic versions of the new material to be featured therein. The new full-length is set for release in June, and this EP provides a perfect segue from album #2 to album #3; teasing just enough without giving too much away.
Opening track ‘My Hero’ talks of the toils and trials of touring the UK, and it’s clear to see that while Joe is pleased with his career choices, he’s fittingly disillusioned with the state of the UK live scene, and understandably so. This runs smoothly into the slightly more down-tempo second track, focussing more internally on his own evident sense of insecurity, centred around the hook ‘I just want to be alive‘.
‘C’est La Vie Pt.2’ is a personal favourite, with obvious nods towards Bob Dylan and more of a Folk aspect, brought together with an obviously Punk-Rock oriented chorus, which makes sense, considering the final track is a cover of Alkaline Trio‘s song, ‘Mercy Me’.
Again, this is another area where Joe has proved an exception to the rule – I’m usually not a fan of covers on an original record, but this cover is perfectly executed, holding the gritty edge of the original song but providing a fresh Acoustic spin on the release.
In summary, while I’m only around 80% sold on the DIY aspect to the recording, it’s certainly provided me with enough evidence that I need to listen to the next full-length, as well as Joe’s back catalogue, in some depth.
Find more about Joe and the new EP below:
- For updates head to Facebook and Twitter.
- For a ‘Free/Name Your Price digital download of the EP – Click Here.
- For all of Joe McCorriston’s digital music, head to bandcamp and to his BigCartel page for hard-copy CDs.
- For videos and streaming, head to his Youtube Channel.
#StayFresh
