Album Reviews

Armed with pop hooks for days and wistful lyrics, Atlanta’s New Junk City are back with their sophomore album and A-F Records debut, ‘Beg A Promise’. This one is guaranteed to brighten up your day considerably.

New Junk City couple the heart-on-sleeve type lyrics of The Menzingers to the buzzing guitars of a band like Superchunk and then top it off with the pop sensibilities of Gin Blossoms. I don’t know about you, but that about ticks all the boxes for me. Opener ‘Last Looks’ is a blast of energy that wastes zero seconds getting down to business. And business sure is good on ‘Beg A Promise’with album highlights such as‘Old Maid’ (a song so good it gets a reprise later on on the album), previously released single ‘Rosey’and ‘Gideon,’ which comes with the gripping line ‘this was never gonna end well’ sung in such a way that it gave me goosebumps.

Sure, it can be challenging to tell some of the songs apart at first. But give it a few spins and you’ll find that the band has done more than enough to add shades of variety. Plus, the entire album shines so bright with melody, that it feels like one big energy jolt.