Josh Berwanger, “Oh Bis!” 7-inch

cover - berwanger too much rockKids! Kidskidskidskids! Guess what?

Josh Berwanger put out a new single! And it’s part of the too Much Rock single series! And it has a cover of the Jags’ “Back of My Hand” on the b-side! I literally responded to the initial news of this with a linked article on Facebook and something along the lines of “THE FUCKING JAGS?!?!”

But, really, everybody: I’m a huge fan of Josh berwanger as a musician and just a guy to chat with in general, and this might be my favorite thing he’s thus far done. “Oh Bis!” has been part of Bernwager’s live sets for a while now, and the fact that he uses the word “bozos” has always endeared the song to me.

I also really like the fact that the song flips the usual pop song narrative, working in a certain element of self-awareness, wherein Berwanger’s singing about how “he could never love you like he does,” rather than railing about how he could do so much better. It’s a clever bit of mirroring, and the lyrics give lie to the postivity of the music.

https://soundcloud.com/sidmuchrock/josh-berwanger-oh-bis

The flipside, a cover of the Jags’ “Back of My Hand,” is pretty much perfect. The addition of Heidi Gluck on backing vocals is always a welcome addition — her work on Berwanger’s album, Strange Stains, resulted in some of that record’s highlights. The cover’s pretty straightforward, but fits in nicely with the band’s previous cuts.

The single’s out tomorrow, and can be found at Lawrence’s Love Garden Sounds, as well as Kansas City’s Mills Record Comapny, who will play host to a release show for the single on Thursday, June 5. If you’re not able to get to either shop, you can buy it from Josh Berwanger’s online store (which, in the interest of full disclosure, is my day job). You’ve your choice of black vinyl (a pressing of 416) or random color (a pressing of 109, which includes blue, turquoise, purple, and red, amongst others). Additionally, the Jay Shaw artwork lends a bit of continuity to the look of Berwanger’s releases. Nice job on the reto picture sleeve. This sucker looks straight out of 1981.