Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Eskimo Joe, Warner Music 2021.
I have been waiting for this album for a long time.
Eskimo Joe has been a favourite band of mine since they burst on the scene back in the 1990s.
I’ve always liked their mix of ‘60s inspired melody with ‘90s alternative/indie-rock street cred.
Over the last couple of years they have been rereleasing deluxe versions of their earlier albums that contained remastered takes of the original songs along with previously unreleased material.
There was a time when I, like many people, avoided best of compilations (almost considering them second class releases) however, now I view them as an ideal way of obtaining all the tracks that you wish you’d bought when the albums came out.
I’ve always felt that a best of album of Eskimo Joe releases would be a winner because they produced so many good songs over a substantial period of time.
World Repeats Itself Somehow contains most of the songs I would have included if I was compiling it.
The album follows in a largely chronological order opening with their debut release Sweater, from the 1997 EP of the same name, followed by Who Sold Her Out from their second Album Girl (1998).
Girl achieved Gold Record status and contained Planet Earth which is also on the compilation.
Wake Up, From The Sea and Older Than You are from the 2002 album A Song Is a City.
This album peaked at number two in the ARIA album chart and cemented Eskimo Joe’s status as one of our top rock acts.
It’s interesting to observe the change in Eskimo Joe’s music as we progress through the albums.
From Black Fingernails Red Wine onwards through tracks like Foreign Land and Love Is A Drug the songs contain a sophistication and complexity that belies the band’s early Beatle(ish) melodic approach.
Black Fingernails Red Wine is considered Eskimo Joe’s crowning glory with the title track becoming their first top ten single and the album debuting at number one on the ARIA chart.
The final track on World Repeats Itself Somehow, Say Something, is a new track and pointer to the future and hopefully a lot more to come from an outstanding band.
