Waxworld is a solo album by Sob Stories frontman Joel Cusumano, this is his first album since recovering from severe OCD. He recorded the album with help from fellow Bay Area musicians Phil Lantz, R.E. Seraphin, Owen Adair Kelley, Yea-Ming Chen, Rob Good, Luke Robbins, Matt Bullimore, Patrick Clos, Jack and Artemis Cusumano, Nick Gerlock, Tim Kaiser, Stephen Patterson, Sumana Pidaparthi and Paul Wiseman. The album was produced by Joel Cusumano and engineered by Rob Good and Mixed by Matt Bullimore.
The album opens with Two Arrows an urgent pop-punk tune with a nice undertow of keyboards that the guitars chug over Joel's descriptions of the damage those two Arrows can cause slicing through flesh. Caesar sticks it's arms deep up it's sleeves for a frustrated historical overview at the over entitled, with glistening guitars and salvoes of drums interacting with the backing vocals to allow the guitars to fly off the handle.
Another Time Another Place is memories of better days, and better relationships with someone they still want to spend time with, the crunchy guitars and tambourine drive things on. Oh, Zoe you should never have listened to your mother, when she said what she did about Joel, this is the bitter regrets at parental interference in adult relationships, it's slow thoughtful guitars bring out the emotions you felt.
Through A Darkened Glass you try to drink away the pain and sorrow while evoking Cobra Verde or the less messed up end of The Styrenes, neither of which are the actual tune it reminds me of, if only I can figure out what that was. No Hello you've been ignored again, nagged into doing the chores and made to feel about 8 inches high at the end of a brutal argument, that's left Joel asking questions to how he ended up here.
Ninevah may make some of you get ready to cheer or jeer dependant on what names Joel mentions in this tale of the ancient biblical city, this song is far too slow to be played at any Purim parties, but the reference to Jonah ending up in the belly of the whale is perfectly in keeping with the time of year I normally hear that story.
Push Push is bitter reflections of how awful it is, that the idiots always seem to be running the show, the scummiest of scum rising to the top, making you show them deference they have never earned. The catchy chorus may catch a few listeners out, but this tune will worm its way deep into your consciousness, a good summation of our current tortured world.
Mary Katherine is a deep historic tale with echoes of William Blake that jangles intently while the imagery brings up all sorts of visions of Close Lobsters and McCarthy. The Sheep And The Goats makes clear that god will save you from hell, but for that to happen you better stop being sheep all the time. A View From A Wall is a musical interlude to jangle away the days too.
Maybe In A Different World this will be a multi-million selling hit and people will claim Joel is the Bay Areas answer to Bruno Mars, but then they are just hoping for a world that is fair and gives us all a chance to lead good lives, the piano line has a very 17th century feel, here's hoping he doesn't want us to go back to living like they did back then.
Death-Wax Girl sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack to a 70's b-movie horror flick, while the lyrics talk of Death Wax masks and how they might resemble the bodies they are recreating.
The album closes with Forming that has Joel claiming he put poison in his tea over a cinematic organ helping to explain how his life has formed into its current iteration, hoping to be past all the troubles with no return to the padded room, hoping recovery is Forming a new pattern and way forward for his life.
Find out more at https://dandyboyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/waxworld https://www.instagram.com/stories/joelcusumanomusic/ https://www.facebook.com/joelcusumano
