Consumer Guide Album

Big Joanie: Back Home [Kill Rock Stars, 2022]
These three second-generation Black British women are slotted punk and given their new label even riot grrrl. But that sure isn't how they sound, which matters when you've make a rock band your life for 10 years. The tempos are solidly moderate, the tunes sturdy as opposed to hooky and sometimes delivered on simple but striking keyboards including one that sounds like a smallish church organ. The direct, thoughtful lyrics are seldom confrontational but often questioning or just curious, shot through with but not dominated by the interpersonal. Basically their goal is to try and make their lives work. Aren't politics included, you wonder. Of course they are, because all three smart thoughtful women are conscious in the broadest sense and even more likable as a result. A-