Illinois Joy - “Yours To Lose”
Photo by Divesh Raheja
Chicago-based Illinois Joy have just released their new, self-titled EP. From it, we have received “Yours To Lose,” the first track you’ll hear once you dive into this fresh body of work. And friends, you really want to hear this thing.
“Yours To Lose” is an ode to Charlie Bucket and was pitched to us with the tag: “What happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted?" However, you need not be an expert in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory trivia to enjoy what is bound to become one of your new favorite folk songs. “Yours To Lose” starts off, raw as all hell, the acoustic guitar plucked like an approaching freight train. The vocals enter, full of rasp and grit and perfectly reminiscent of Caamp or The Lumineers– a style which cannot be learned, but solely granted by the gods of folk music.
It takes less than thirty seconds for the rest of the band to enter, the kick drum fastened tightly to the bass, warmly compressed as it pushes this train forward. Vocal harmonies appear, stacking the “let it roll/ let it fall” sections of the song to the ceiling and it is abundantly clear that Illinois Joy know their way around recording studio– this song sounds as good or better than anything you’ll hear on the radio. As for songwriting, it is obvious that these guys understand the importance of dynamics, especially between the verse and chorus, and have made it very easy to determine which section of the song you’re hearing. But please do not mistake this for predictability, because the final third of “Yours To Lose” is going to blow your f’ing mind.
We stated earlier that this is a folk song, but the beast that it becomes towards the end will rival most of your indie rock heroes.
We loved “Yours To Lose” so much that we had to keep listening. The EP’s closer, “Cincinnati Rain,” is an upbeat anthem for dusty roads. You’ll find many of the same elements in this one that we heard in the previous, and it is a fine piece of good-old Americana. The vocals, again, completely hit and are delivered via over-driven tubes, providing so much vintage flavor that you will taste it in your coffee. Ladies and gentlemen, as the evidence suggests, Illinois Joy are the real deal.
-HD