Josh Fudge Is The Next Wave, Kids

Pawing through random indie artists on the internet can be a bit of a crapshoot. In an ever changing industry who’s barrier of entry has never been lower, anyone with a computer can get their original music out to the public with the simple entry of a credit card info. Enter Josh Fudge, who decided to make my life a lot easier.

Josh is a relatively new and undiscovered artist with a powerful musical voice. despite being incredibly young he has already carved out a high quality sound in the vein of the Mac DeMarco’s of the world. I decided to take a closer look at some of Josh’s recent musical output.

The Flora EP is as good a place to start as any. The leading track “Four Leaf Clover” features an underbelly of electronic drums and snappy bass grooves capped with a series of jazzy vocal melodies accompanied by jazz guitar sounds. “Four Leaf Clover” resides within a liquid bearing chasm of twinkling lo-fi piano, lonely cowboy whistles, and chemically effected string samples. Multiple layered vocal sections appear throughout, and the whole track takes on a pseudo classic hip-hop/new jack swing feel. “Evergreen” brings along a light offering of electric piano and slow RnB grooves. Percussion features interesting inclusions of brush-snare work and hanging opened hi-hat glides. The track takes on a cyber punk meets swinging RnB vibe, and leaves me wondering why more people aren’t talking about this young artist. “Lilac” embodies a Purdee shuffle walking down the street feel. The song features some slick guitar sounds, backed up by the classic Rhodes sound. The record as a whole is indeed a worthy offering.

“Meet Me In Seattle” is a folk track that relies on layered vocals and reverb laden acoustic guitar. It is a love song at heart, and shows a nice range of stylistic ability from Josh Fudge.

“Strawberry Fanta” is a breezy jam featuring some Wes Montgomery style octave guitar chords along with some toyish organ sounds and a fat syncopated bass line. The song works well enough as a summer pop jam about cute girls and cold drinks, but I (comically and otherwise) feel that it could serve as the backing music to a groundbreaking Strawberry Fanta ad.

“7 In The Morning” moves to a sleazy and breezy, low and slow Funky Drummer archetype beat. Finally, the song represents a bit of a departure from the usually joyous output of Josh Fudge, to show a bit more of a melancholy side. Baked into the murk of wet keyboards and blues guitar however is a small kernel of truth and optimism. This music is not meant to bring you down, but to bring you along.

“Second Date” features the classic Al Green ride cymbal bell beat, and follows a logical pattern of building layers. Evidently Josh used some slick EQ and microphone tricks to get an impressive “female vocal” sound on part of this track.

“When She’s Gone” has the classic Mac Demarco synth and a disco bass line, punctuated by dancing shakers and the standard-great Josh Fudge vocal. This one features a bit more of an overt electronic music or dance music feel, but this doesn’t detract from the song at all. It actively works to make the track more palatable. Fun times indeed Josh.

“Summer Something” is in line with the previous track, but in more of an indie rock mindset, and with more audible guitar sounds. Galloping along at a breezy indie rock speed of not-so-fast, the song features some pretty layered vocals and plenty of effected instruments sounds. Things manage to sound lo-if and dirty, but also clean and controlled. This dichotomy is nice, and the song is quite enjoyable overall.

Finally Josh’s most recent single, “There She Goes”, returns to the slower pseudo RnB indie rock sound. The drums feature some less electronic tones, including some crisp cymbals. A bright and shining Rhodes sound is present throughout. On this track, I feel that the melody and backing track blend into each other with a purpose that hasn’t been explored thus far. This one leaves me excited to hear more from the young Mr. Josh Fudge.

It should be obvious to the reader that we like Josh Fudge. The question at hand is “how much do we like Josh Fudge”? Unanimously and without debate, Mr Josh Fudge earns the grade of “Pantheon” for his current musical output. Do yourself a big favor, and go listen to some of his tracks. Until next time.