Joyce ManorJoyce Manor are no longer a punk band. And unless you're a crusty crusader for "real emo", you probably don't give a shit about that. Following on from the catchiness of previous album Cody, Million Dollars To Kill Me shows the band settling down to become an efficient vehicle for Barry Johnson's pop songwriting and every-dude storytelling.
If this change was a cheap attempt to expand their audience then maybe the naysayers would be onto something. But the truth is that Johnson has always had a Jawbreaker devil on one shoulder and a Weezer angel on the other. So who cares? The songs still wrap you up in that warm blur of angst only power chord pop can provide, and isn't that what we all signed up for?
The chorus of Think I'm Still In Love With You is so immediately catchy that you'll be singing along on your first listen. I'm Not The One sees the band cracking out the acoustic guitars for a ballad that's best heard while looking sad next to a rainy window. The rest is business as usual in a comfortable and satisfying way.
As far as this type of music goes, Million Dollars To Kill Me is a fairly straightforward listen. But thankfully, like their previous records, this album is full of bizarre lyrical vignettes that become romantic and endearing once you've unravelled their mysteries.
It's nothing groundbreaking, but Million Dollars To Kill Me is just another step towards Joyce Manor creating the perfect soundtrack to a coming-of-age comedy.
