SIMON JOYNER - The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll (30th Anniversary) LP

Limited 30th Anniversary Edition of 350 copies.

Includes lyric insert.

Highest recommendation.

A cool obscure folk gem from the mid 90s that deserves more attention - even though it was famously played by legendary BBC1 Radio’s John Peel in its entirety, something he only ever did for a Bob Dylan and Siouxsie and the Banshees LP.

Lots of artists come to mind when listening: Guided by Voices, Velvet Underground, Daniel Johnston, John Darnielle during the boombox-era of The Mountain Goats, and some of the lyrics feel very Leonard Cohen-esque.

The lo-fi songs, "747", "I Went to Our Lady of Perpetual Healing", "August (Die She Must)", and "Fallen Man" give the album some intensity but never to the point of overpowering.

"Target" features this soft yet haunting piano accompanying Joyner's lonely vocals (it's a rather moving track), while “Javelin” is more acoustic, with lyrics about longing that are simply stunning (“I've got to learn to sing from my abdomen/And hold on to the ghosts and let them haunt me/To think of my heart as a javelin/Falling down and descending into Los Angeles”).

"Cole Porter" is utterly devastating, with Joyner reflecting on the death of his grandmother and the closing track, "Joy Division" starts off sparse until a blast of noisy guitars and thumping drums close off the track. It’s this stunning closing track where Joyner is as V.U. as he gets.

All the raw talent that Joyner's early material hinted at got pushed to the forefront and amplified here. His lyrics made a similar leap as well, carving out personal yet cryptic tales of challenged faith and maturation that find great company with John Darnielle's material.

Overall, it's a rather amazing lo-fi folk album that encompasses the best aspects of the genre. Essentially, this is the album that stopped simply hinting that Joyner could be a vital addition to the American singer-songwriter underground and full on said it with the sort of conviction that only a young man could muster.