WL//WH Review: CONG JOSIE “Moto Zone” LP [It Records]

WL//WH Review CONG JOSIE

Cong Josie, photo by Suzanne Phoenix

As you all know (for many years now), we at WL//WH have a special attraction on the unusual, unique, extravagant, and other offbeat things from out there. We carefully listen to these when they arrive in our mailbox, and we don’t mind deviating sometimes from the path we’ve taken as a dark alternative music webzine. After all, here we also play a lot of shoegaze, electronica, indies, noise rock, etc…

A few days ago arrived spectacularly in our mailbox the brand-new “Moto Zone” LP by Cong Josie through It Records (both artist and label from Melbourne). “Nice, very strange, familiar sound”, I said, “strange record though, nice” as I was tripping over the music. Luckily I found some things in the EPK that made it all stranger but also very useful for us all to hear better this album. Let me show you some “info” please:

“On Moto Zone, Cong conjures the age of rock ’n’ roll, a world of motorcycle gangs and hot rods, leather, chains, backcombing and hair pomade, with an Aussie twist on greaser ‘cool’. Confessional lyrics tell tales of addiction and mental illness tracing the scars of a troubled past. Cong says the “Moto Zone” reflects his daily life and mindset. A life of ADHD, burning the midnight oil, living on black coffee, obsessively creating and revving through every day. Ultimately Cong is reaching for bliss, feeling connection and a new world in these songs”.

Do not expect to listen to any hard rock rockabilly sleaze in “Moto Zone” LP, do not imagine a record that comes furiously by some Daniel Ash on his 2300cc Triumph Rocket III monster bike, and do not think of any “motorheadism” too. Just think of an album of great strangeness, with personal public stories, some romance, a lot of grooves, the danger, the smoke, the desert, the city, the girl, you, me, us, all made up with a crazy blend of rock and roll, new wave, no wave, synth punk, and more…

You will see this on Cong Josie‘s Bandcamp:

Cong Josie is the hedonistic alter-ego, (and anagram) of Nic Oogjes, best known as the bandleader of heat beat ensemble NO ZU. Nicolaas says inhabiting the Cong character allows him to plunge the depths of his psyche and drag forth what he finds there – beyond the real and into hyper-reality.

Does it make it a bit clearer now, or even stranger? Is it a game, some sport, a fantasy, or what else? I think all is a peculiar mind’s creation through an obviously talented artist and I will keep this to stay focused only on the music. The whole record (11 tracks) is like an adventurous rock and roll narration with quite a good sound and a very cool performance by all during the recordings. It is a social album that has stories and incidents to tell according to the musical path of each track and many of these will commemorate some of your glorious days and nights when you later became a mature and brave person. I am not joking, I am not mocking, and I am not pointing my finger at any situation or anyone, but the flow and the groove of this album remind me a lot of myself and the lives I’ve lived and I don’t live alone as a hermit but in human societies, like 98% of us, I believe.

Another hint from the EPK:

“On Moto Zone a number of collaborators appear once again (aka The Hell Racers). Cayn Borthwick (AKA Johnny Cayn) once again co-wrote a majority of the songs and played a slew of instruments on the album. Mona Reves (Simone Page-Jones), Milla McQueen (AKA Camilla McKewen) lend their vocals and contribute heavily to the whole album, Athina Uh Oh from Gut Health sings on the zeibekiko stomper, ‘Do The Tarantula’, Con Kalamaras (Naarm Greek rebetiko hero) gets the bouzouki out for ‘Crime Time TV’, Madoula Mouskouri (AKA Maddie Otto) joins Cong on ‘Lucinda’ and Sashi Dhahrann provides bass on ‘Lucinda’, ‘1300 Scorpio’ and ‘Crime Time TV’.

As a GR person myself residing in Athens, I must say that I was really impressed by the innovative twists on these familiar sounds. The album has a punk vibe which I enjoyed. Throughout the album, there are experimental elements layered on a strong foundation. Listening to it feels like going on an adventure to an extraordinarily safe destination.

So, here is the new album “Moto Zone“ by Cong Josie, listen to it loud and take care!!!

Keep up with Cong Josie: