Before joining Athens-based Futurebirds as their keyboardist a couple of years ago, Spencer Thomas was a singer in a country rock band from Mississippi before finally putting out a solo album in 2019. Five years later, he’s finally ready for his follow-up.
On the 10-track The Joke Of Life, Thomas offers a beautiful, piano-heavy record that recalls some of the smartest lyrists from the past – everyone from Andrew Gold to Randy Newman in some of his more melancholy and thoughtful moments. Though the album is populated with various characters writing in the third person, there are also plenty of his own experiences weaved throughout, being on the road away from home and trying to exist as a working musician at a time when that is becoming less and less sustainable.
The album opens on the title track, a frank, heartbreaking look at the realities of life not living up to its expectations, while “Little Gold” is about a lady who left her life on the East Coast to make a new start in California. The song that grabs you on the first pass, however, is the tearjerker “Always Never You”. “I started singing this Brian Wilson-like melody in the shower and couldn’t shake it. I knew I wanted a playful Pet Sounds production, so we used every auxiliary instrument Chase Park (the studio where he recorded) had in its basket – including a clown horn,” said Thomas. “This character is lost in wondering why he and the person he loved never had their proper shot. This is the lyrical version of him traveling down a fantasy rabbit hole.”
That doesn’t mean the album is a complete beautiful bummer. “Misty Eyes” is an upbeat ode to moving on to better times (with a remarkable guitar solo closing out the song). The driving “Desperate Man” has a strong Springsteen/Joe Jackson vibe and the sweet “Dream Lilac” about looking for a long-lost love has an optimistic tone despite the focus.
Recorded over the last three years, The Joke of Life includes an amazing list of cameos from the Athens music scene, including members of My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, Futurebirds, and Reptar, among others.
