Record review: "Ashtray Rock" by Joel Plaskett Emergency

If I was applying for a job as a record reviewer at the local newspaper, this is what I would submit.

The first time I heard "Ashtray Rock" it went immediately on the medium-length mental list of records I wish I had made myself. I love every track. I love the loose narrative connecting all the songs about first bands and fights over girls in the teenage years. I love the influence of various classic rock and pop styles. To me, this sounds like a semi-homage, or at least an allusion, to the music Joel P. (and by extension, all of us listeners) grew up with. Eschewing the meandering, amelodic, 'we can't really play our instruments so we pretend this noise is deliberate' hackery of much contemporary indie rock, these songs on "Ashtray Rock" are unapologetically catchy, well-played rock and roll. In fact, some of these tracks -like the unabashed doo-wop of "Penny for your thoughts" or the chunky 70s power chords of "Snowed in" - would sound downright anachronistic if it wasn't for the lyrics; JP's words are at turns clever, self-deprecating, goofy, and sarcastic - all very characteristic of contemporary writing, starkly different from the earnest, minimally poetic innocence that would have been present in the musical styles that inspired this record.
The production and mixing are great - there are a lot of different sounds but it never sounds muddy. The band is tight and precise. And the artwork! You kids with your MP3s and your burned CDs: Buy the real thing! Instead of lyrics, there is a black and white drawing by Rebecca Kraatz for each track, beautifully capturing the song's contribution to the album's "plot", essentially creating a mini graphic novel with no words, just a soundtrack. Crank it up!