Healthy Junkies – Listen To The Mad

Healthy Junkies are back with their sixth album, and this is a band that has always baffled me a little, a band that sits on a plain of their own, yet somehow haven’t quite reached their full potential. I don’t mean a potential of their own, rather that this is a band who could, nay, should be near the top of the pile when it comes to Indie/Punk Rock n Roll.   

Well the new album’s title says Listen To The Mad, so let’s dive right in and do exactly that…. Having caressed my ears with all of this bands previous work, getting to hear this offering for the first time, is what I can only describe as an absolute thrill and pleasure. The intro that sets us up for whats to come lasts 59 secs, this has set my mind to a book of the same name and one quote in particular “Want to buy happiness? Then spend your hard-earned cash on experiences”. Was this to be the mantra for this album?, maybe, maybe not, but it’s a great starting point. 

‘Favourite Place’ is the first full blooded track we hit, and what a way to open. This is a song that’s like taking a breath of  adrenalin infused air, it takes you on a journey across your most exciting moments in life. It’s a hope filled song that drives along like it should never stop. When they came up with this album’s title I wonder if it was from a place of craziness, maybe the members of the band thought these songs came together, and yes you could easily see this, but for myself this is an album of which “Mad” signifies life, I mean a life filled with wonder. ‘Self Conscious’ is a banger of a tune that looks at the need/want to be self critical, yet somehow it throws out totally the opposite musically, it somehow gives off an amazingly positive vibe from something that should be negative. ‘Dead Souls’ is a song that initially takes me back a little to early Healthy Junkies, a psychedelic ethereal feel, but then the beat kicks in, these dead souls live on another plain, an absolute stand out by far.

If any of you have followed Healthy Junkies for the journey, as I have, then you might be awarethat this is a band that just continually move on up, and up, every album just pushes the envelope further and further. How they stay planted on this earth is beyond me, but if you’re new to them, well, you’ll need a rocket ship to reach home after listening to this one.  This is an album of life changing lyrical insights, but its also a sing-along a melodic masterpiece. ‘Son And A Daughter’ for example, has a place all of its own, a reggae backdrop that drips with modern views on life. ‘Now Or Never’ on the other hand, rips up the punk rule book, it’s Ramones, no its not, its Sex Pistols, no its Rezillos, oh fuck it, its all of them and more!!.

I’m only three quarters of the way through this cracking album, and if I’m being truly honest, it might be just as well for me to wind up this review here and almost now, its becoming harder and harder to concentrate. I like listening and typing normally, but this album is so ridiculously good, I can’t do it!, my brain might just explode. So don’t take this to heart, but you lot can go listen and fucking enjoy the rest on your own, without my shit ramblings to put you off. Go buy, put on, and be blown away!!

Wonder if this has ever been said before?, I know it has, but I can tease can’t I.  

This is Healthy Junkies best album to date for me, they’ve never disappointed, and I don’t think they ever will.  Its melodic, its thoughtful, its raw and polished all at the same time, and it, without any shadow of a doubt, needs to be in your life!!!!

Out on November 22nd via Banana Castle Records.

Go find this band, go love this band…. FACEBOOK  WEBSITE SPOTIFY