Album Review: Healthy Junkies - "Forever On The Road Part 1"

Regulars on the London alternative circuit for over a decade now (including their Rock 'n' Roll Rendezvous nights at the Unicorn in Camden), Healthy Junkies are one of those bands who've been plugging away on the underground circuit and slowly building a following gig by gig. Forever On The Road is no less than their fifth album and is the first part of a soundtrack to their documentary On The Road In The USA.

From the opener Last Day In LA, it seems it's pretty much business as usual here with the group taking their usual twisted pop-punk approach with Nina's sweetly venomous vocals and Phil's good guitar work backed up with an almost ska-style backing at times. However, as the album goes on, you quickly realise that in keeping with its soundtrack setting, this is actually maybe a lot more varied with atmospheric instrumentals like Halloween In LA, the epic piano-led Walking Away and the Danny Elfman style poison waltz of The Sunlight Has Gone rubbing shoulders with other oddities like the Vision Thing era Sisters of Mercy-esque Transportation, the sinister Something In The Way and the trademark punk spikiness of Mayday.

It may seem an odd comparison but the album that Forever On The Road (Part One) reminds me of is Wah Wah by James which was intended as a sort of out-takes and odds 'n' sods companion to their Laid album but which actually turned out to be an interesting and varied enough beast to stand up pretty well in its own right. It may occasionally lapse into sounding like a deep cuts and rarities album rather than showing off their trademark pop-punk but it's definitely an intriguing listen which shows another side to the band and allows them to demonstrate their musical versatility. You can give it a spin and see for yourself at the Healthy Junkies Bandcamp page.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)