Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Sometimes the zinger requires time to land, the timing in the hands of an amateur is askew, not quite feeling the effect that it was designed to do. In some cases, the person on the other side of the joke sees the climax a mile off and is prepared, but the moment of exultation is lost. Only in the mind of the true seer can the Punchline become evident at the exact moment it was required to give the audience what it needed.
In his first solo album release in more than three years, Johnny Lloyd returns with pinpoint insight and a tightly weaved understanding of lyrics and music in the atmospheric and character filled recording of Punchline.
Whilst every tale is different, how we arrive at the end is pretty much assured, and how we express our life through the eyes of a lens that relives the recent past, in all its glory and misadventures, that is the moment we look upon as commentary, the description and the impression in our minds as we await the answer to the puzzles we have faced and the challenges overcome.
From the expression of cool that comes from the opening tracks of Roller King, If You Love Them, Let Them Go, and Manchester In Bloom, Johnny Lloyd almost serenades the listener with a sense of soothing moods, and as songs such as the expressive Love, Death, Hate, Paranoia, and I’ll Be Kind This Time underline the ease and drama of the occasion so it is with a perfectly beating heart that the audiophile greets the music as a friend who cares, who took hold of their hand in the meanest of hours and now relieves the tension and offers a solution by lightening the load of fear in our collective heart.
Loss and ruminations are always expected in life, it is how we seek to unburden ourselves, and in the Punchline our way to salvation has an approach created by decency and courage. A terrifically assured album, technically cool, and brought about by understanding change in our current misaligned world.
Johnny Lloyd releases Punchline on January 31st via Xtra Mile Recordings.
Ian D. Hall