In BlackWristBand, John McGeown does it all—the singer and songwriter, the drummer, guitarist and bassist—and he does so with the force and fury of a fully-fledged lineup. The 10 tracks on My Escape offer an angsty flurry of feelings that draw as much from music acts like Apocalypse Hoboken, Oblivion, Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks, Misfits and Black Flag as they do verbose writers like William S. Burroughs, Hubert Selby Jr. and Hunter S. Thompson.
While he may not have any collaborators on the self-released debut album John jokes, “I do sort of have a split personality on the album. Different versions of myself showed up for this one.” The themes are wide-ranging, at times expressing disappointment, at others sarcastic and crass, but always sincere.
The music is largely inspired by his time in the Navy. “It shaped me in a lot of ways and stunted me in a lot of ways, too,” he says. You can hear that battle in the single “In the Mouth of the Beast,” a power punch that John says is about “the fight for survival.” As he explains, “The Beast is an ominous force that thrives on chaos and suffering. It questions the meaning of life and the role of faith in times of upheaval. It looks at real world problems that seem insurmountable, that reinforces a sense of impending doom. It is an indictment of the relentless cycle of negative news and the ineffectiveness of responses to it.”
On the indie rock-leaning single “I Don’t Care,” what unfurls is a kaleidoscopic mirage of “resignation, defiance and introspection,” says John. “On the one hand, saying ‘I don’t care’ gives you a sense of apathy or detachment from various aspects of life. But the chorus offers a contrasting tone, emphasizing a sense of community and connection through music.”
My Escape was produced, mixed, and engineered by Jeff Dean at The Echo Mill and mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. Video directed by Miguel Echemendia.
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