Joey Sweeney & The Neon Grease | courtesy of the artist
Joey Sweeney & The Neon Grease share new single “And Soon,” debut album Catholic School out Sept. 7
After almost a year of slowly rolling out single after single, Joey Sweeney & The Neon Grease have shared the long-awaited announcement of their debut album. Called Catholic School, it’ll be out on Sept. 7, and if that’s not reason enough to be excited, a press release describes it as “an album so steeped in dad-rock influences that it’s wearing a Members Only jacket and trying to get a job working for the city.” We’re also promised plenty of saxophone solos, so honestly, September can’t come fast enough.
The album’s lead single “And Soon,” which features vocals from Renée LoBue of Elk City, is out now. The mellow track takes a laid-back, laced-with-hopefulness approach to working through the experience of loss and finding comfort in grief, with a lyrical reference to the Sandy Denny song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?”
Reached over email, Sweeney says of the song, “‘And Soon’ is the song we play last, nearly every time we play. Part of that is because we like that kinda VU-style slow chooglin’ to let the band spread out. But the bigger reason is that it’s like a benediction or toast or final word — like, ‘May the road rise to meet you.’ We raise it like a glass, you know?”
Local crooner Sweeney has been a presence in the Philly scene since the 80’s and has fronted bands such as The Trouble With Sweeney and The Barnabys; in more recent years he’s run the local blog philebrity.com. This will be his first LP with his new band The Neon Grease, which formed last year (and features WXPN’s Jared Styles on bass).
Stream “And Soon” below and pre-order Catholic School here.