I’m not sure what to expect whenever Fat Wreck release a new record long gone are the days of predicting a pop-punk 1-2-fuck you NOFX sing along what with the last Fat Mike album then CJ Ramone doing what he does best then this.

Predominantly an acoustic album with some crushing melodies and harmonies.  The songs are short sharp and right to the point – there isn’t any filler or padding out the record going on here take the awesome ‘Jetlag Blues’ with its subtle cello and drums gently keeping the tempo for its the harmonies that rule here and then to follow that up with the gentle picking of the dark ‘Adulthood’ will blow you away.

‘Ghost Of Paris’ is the first glimpse of what you might associate with the “Fat Wreck” sound but the arrangement is excellent. If you’re wondering just who the fuck these two cats are let Fat Mike explain –

“I never really put a band together before. It seems like a weird thing to do, but some things need to happen. I meet a lot of people on tour. Tommy I met in Israel about 12 years ago. Great singer/songwriter playing in a punk band. He was cool, and I started listening to his solo stuff. It was great, but no one ever came to see him play in the US. I felt bad. One day in SF Tommy asked me what he should do. He said no one comes to see his punk band or his solo shows. I said that’s how it goes. You’ve been doing this for over ten years and if you’re not drawing a crowd now, you never will. He was bummed. I was bummed. He’s a great songwriter, but who cares? Two days later I remembered I met an Iranian Colombian dude on tour that was a great singer-songwriter too. I hadn’t spoken to him in years….I had a weird idea. I emailed both of them and told them to start a band together. I know you live in two different parts of the world….but I think you would make a great two-piece band. Let me produce the record and we’ll see how it goes. You don’t have to tour. Just spend a week in the studio with me. I said record short acoustic weird songs with a new wave edge. They did. We did ten songs that came in at 20 minutes. I fucking loved it. Totally simple and clean and short and catchy and I had never heard a band sound like this before…. AND like Stiff Little Fingers (Protestants and Catholics), no one expects a Jew and a Colombian Arab to be making music together. Like SLF, it’s fucking good.

I introduce to the world Tommy and June…. two kinda boring guys that make really fucking great music together.”  You know what he’s not wrong these guys have great chemistry together and their knack for melodies sounds cool and a great distraction and just how punk rock should be – keeping you on your toes and keeping it fresh and different.  the fact most of the songs are under two minutes means there just isn’t time to get bored and they never labor the point they simply don’t have the time to anyway.

There is never any substitute for a good songwriter there are plenty of great performers or players but not everyone has the chops to write a song and put the time into the melodies and harmonies and Tommy & June don’t fit into that norm.  if you trust Fat Mike then check it out you’ll probably jump on board before the record is over and that’s not very long.

Buy Tommy & June Here 

Author: Dom Daley