Download two heartbreaking, introspective songs from Univox’s Josh Jones (playing a solo set at J.R.’s Bar tonight)
On the one hand, I think of Philadelphia rockers Univox as a bunch of funny, irreverent dudes. I remember recording their Key Session and watching drummer Kent Boersma run laps around the studio, apropos of nothing. They put out an iPhone video game (that I still have yet to beat). They recorded campy Halloween songs. But there’s also an undeniably sensitive, introspective, yearning side to them – you’ll hear it in the lyrics to “Tonight.” And you’ll also hear it in the solo tracks from singer and songwriter Josh Jones. Released this June, “All I Think About” and “The Body Grows Back” come from the perspective of a heartbroken character, knowing that the end is imminent but still struggling to express love. The warm synthesizer beds and slow dance pulse make these tracks – lo-fi as they might be – come across almost like R&B pop ballads asking forgiveness for wrongs he’s done. Maybe Jones is the Drake of the Philly punk scene, I don’t know. In any case, he makes his last Philly appearance of 2013 tonight at J.R.’s Bar in South Philly; get information on the show here, and grab free downloads of these two tracks below.