Album Review

Joseph A. Peragine –

• 21st Mar 2008

The now balanced paranoid schizophrenic Joseph A. Peragine is a man with something to say and a means of getting it across. His 14 hour days in the studio have evidently paid off and the fruit of his labour is nothing short of brilliant. His early Mike Patton-like stage persona is highly effective and carries more of a punch than the restrained sounds offered here.

Fighting For Existence: More than conventional to that which follows it, this buoyant instrumental track is driven, purposeful and superbly sets the precedent for the overall high quality of this EPK.

Perspectives of Then and Now Saved… Metamorphosis Engraved/Rewind: There’s no denying that the blatantly tortured, wonderfully worked lyrics found (but not necessarily intelligibly delivered) amidst the accompanying sample rich music are emotive and insightful. The music itself is a fascinating amalgamation of JPs own hard work. Backward loop mixing, ever diversifying samples, simplistic yet effective guitar are all underpinned with understated bass and percussion, making for a diverse and dynamic sound.

Nobody Home: The ringing of doorbells and phones, the knocking (I’ll avoid using the word ‘rapping’ so as to avoid any confusion!) at doors and stabbing string work…wonderful… all held together with a sublime backward track that effortlessly melds into the mix and finishes off the sound of yet another great track.

Matter of Opinion: Stripped away from the cacophony of samples etc, a dominant guitar carries a thankfully clear vocal and its engaging lyrics, on a track that’s fit for bath time drift away action. Ethereal and easy going, the conflicting yet majestic mix of subject matter and musical accompaniment does exactly what it should be aiming to do… please. Nice and close to any Roger Waters solo trademark sound or the lesser known All Our Good Friends whom JP should undoubtedly check out!

Alienorganization (Journey into a Straitjacket): As both the tempo and urgency slowly rise, slowly sucking you in to its instrumental heart, an eerie sense of expectation grips tight. Like each of the constructs counterparts, the song undeniably engages on its somewhat misguided but nevertheless wondrous way.

Voices: Seemingly insidious, speedy performance poetry put to the sounds of a basic guitar part, with an overall feeling of defiance and self worth propelling each lyric…very effective. The speed at which the lyrics come leaves no time to process the information, to analyze it or to fully appreciate the message. There is however enough time to hear the spite that’s fuelling JPs vocal delivery and enough time to succumb to his understandably sinister, cynical charms.

JP just begs to be heard again and again, simple… At least once anyway, I mean who wants to miss out on Daniel Johnston fronting a sedated Faith No More!