Won't Let Go. J Prozac

With the title song and second single of the album J Prozac could be found on these pages before. A song combining the best of pop-rock and several decades. Add a truckload of energy and the fun of playing this kind of music and you have a winner called 'Won't let Go'. "Whoa-hey-ho". So, how does the album fare?

Smartly enough Won't Let Go starts with its title song, setting the pace and the standard. Now is that a smart thing to do? It sets expectations at the highest possible levels. And then the opening riff of 'For The World' kicks in followed with a great guitar lick just before the singing starts. I'm sold it seems. It is a song about a man who would not change his happy family life, "house, tree, animal", as we call it here when someone has settled, then throw in couple of kids for good measure. J Prozac would not change it for the world. As long as he can make songs like 'For The World' on the side that is. I can only come to that conclusion listening to the impact the song has.

Musically Prozac comes close to other great artist on Rum Bar Records I really like, Geoff Palmer and Brad Marino, with Prozac laying on the guitars a bit more forcefully, bringing the songs closer to punkrock than pop rock.

J Prozac goes by the name of Jason (Jay) Gauvin in daily life. He fronts a band called The Prozacs and has been in other bands for years. With Won't Let Go he spreads out his wings solo and shows to the world what he can do when calling all the shots. What I think is more important is that the quality of the album is consistent and the joy coming from that shines through each and every song. Prozac and whoever is accompanying him, this varies considerably, obviously share the joy of playing together. The album is a whole and co-producers Prozac and Angelo Quaglia can be proud of achieving this. Certainly when taking into account the album was recorded over a period of two years.

The first single also made it to WoNoBlog. 'Building Blocks' is probably the single containing the highest fun level on Won't Let Go. Serious and funny, somewhere towards U.K. pop-punkers Toy Dolls without stepping over that line. For that the music is too good, the song as a whole too good. J Prozac introduced himself to me with a great song, paving the way for that great second single. And, let's face it, many other songs on Won't Let Go would have made great singles. Just listen to 'Here With Me'. Another punk anthem if I ever heard one.

All in all Won't Let Go is seventeen songs, including a host of bonus tracks, long. That may be overdoing things a little, bu no more than that. For every punk rock fan this album is a must have and for many other pop fans not minding that little extra push on all the instruments as well. I haven't heard a better punkrocking album in 2022 yet.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order the album on the Rum Bar Records' Bandcamp page:

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wont-let-go