Before this release, The Homeless Gospel Choir was an act that fittingly rubbed shoulders with the likes of Frank Turner and Beans on Toast; similarly engaging in a cocktail of self-searching and socio-political lyricism atop a bedrock of folk-punk. ‘This Land is Your Landfill’ is a rather different beast than expected. Once the predominantly acoustic led solo project of Derek Zanetti, album number four adds muscle to the bones of The Homeless Gospel Choir by employing a full band lineup. This punk collective serves Zanetti well for the most part, resulting in a sound that’s much more Weezer than Dylan.
While the core sound may have shifted, the message remains resolutely the same. As the album’s title would suggest, the topics tackled here are bound to aggravate the blood pressure of folks of a particular political persuasion. Opener ‘Global Warming’ features the sneered centre-piece lyric of “Donald Trump thinks global warming was made up by the Chinese”. If you don’t feel your colon furiously twisting upwards inside yourself, it’s safe to carry on listening from here on out. The track itself quickly demonstrates the successful band dynamic, with the introduction of horns adding a modern ska-punk vibe to a song that evokes the lo-fi charm of ‘The Blue Album’. The inclusion of Maura Weaver and Megan Schroer’s backing vocals elevate the energy considerably and are featured generously throughout the whole record.
‘Don’t Compare’ – an ode to the importance of mental well-being amid the influence of social media – could resonate easily with fans of UK contemporaries Nervus, while the first single ‘Art Punk’ is a snarky, but saccharine nugget of alt-rock nestled atop swelling tremolo guitars and a chiming lead motif.
‘You Never Know’ pulls out the acoustic and the accordion for a sombre, yet prescient musing on the reliability of media outlets. “Is network news giving you the blues?”, croons Zanetti as he ponders the verifiability of the truth he’s being presented – the added mention of police brutality being particularly timely. It’s this track, as well as the Americana stylings of ‘Lest We Forget’ that are the most comfortably reminiscent of The Homeless Gospel Choir’s earlier material, while still utilising the added instrumentation of the full band. Conversely though, ‘A Dream About the Internet’ falters, relying entirely on Zanetti’s voice and acoustic guitar, which results in a song that sounds sonically incongruous with the rest of the album, and more like an early demo.
That said, ‘This Land is Your Landfill’ is an overall successful metamorphosis for The Homeless Gospel Choir – an evolution into a sound that is now as punk as the spirit behind its initial inception.
- ‘This Land is Your Landfill’ is out now. You can get your copy, and other HGC goodies, HERE.
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