From his time fronting Norma Jean to ten years as vocalist of The Chariot, Josh Scogin’s career has, until recently, trodden a fairly similar path. With his latest endeavour ’68, Scogin has largely stepped away from what he knows. Superfluous elements such as multiple band members, expensive production, and even full track names are gone, leaving nothing to distract Scogin and Michael McClellan – previously of Becoming the Archetype – from creating their debut album ‘In Humor And Sadness’. With regards to the lack of proper track names, each one is given a single letter or punctuation mark that when read in order spell out ‘Regret Not.’
‘In Humor And Sadness’ immediately crashes through the speakers with the first track ‘R’, a flailing tangle of guitars and off-kilter drums that pulls itself off the floor in time to offer something a bit more coherent for the chorus. Track two ‘E’ offers some respite, with passages of calm amongst the clattering guitars, before a cry of ”Resurrect yourself” builds the pace back up again.
Scogin has a strong voice, and with only McClellan to back him up from time to time, he carries the record well. His vocals retain just the right amount of frenzied desperation throughout the ten songs, but are more than capable of variation when needed. It’s all enjoyably chaotic, but after being battered by the first four tracks, the more reigned in approach on song number five is a welcome change of pace. The same goes for track seven ‘N’, which showcases a much more garage rock approach as it swings from hardcore to a more indie vibe and back again. It encapsulates the sound of the band brilliantly and is probably the best song on the album.
However, the more meandering elements like those found on tracks six and nine could easily have been trimmed. As it is, this occasional lack of focus pushes some parts of the album towards sounding like a garage rock tribute to the metalcore genre rather than anything new or different.
The lack of over-production and polish is refreshing. It would have been all too easy to clean the tracks up and bring everything together into a neat little package, but that would destroy the raw simplicity at the heart of ‘In Humour And Sadness’.
When it works, which is very often, ’68 sound very much like a two piece The Bronx, or a scrappier Scissorfight. ‘In Humor And Sadness’ certainly has the swagger that you would associate with the former, with the bluesy undertones that Scogin and McClellan have themselves crafted. At its core, it is ten tracks of discordant heavy rock, with gritty riffs and urgent vocals, that also touches upon a number of different genres. It is impulsive, brilliantly focused, and uncomplicated, a challenging listen that what it occasionally lacks in focus it more than makes up for with sheer attitude and bravado.
CHRIS HILSON