Album released: 16/12/22
Available from: https://lewca.bandcamp.com/music
The story so far…
Brixton born, Parisian commuter, Lewca has released 3 EPs between December 2020 and June 2021. The first two (3 Kids & A Mortgage and Walking The Hedgehog) appear on opposite sides of a vinyl. His third EP Geezer Pop was included alongside the first two on a CD titled Year One. Lewca has also released a number of excellent singles in collaboration with the crème de la crème of the new music scene (Sean Buckley, Ben Todd, OrangeG, Post Industrial Poets, Fire Up The Sun, The Geezer Choir, Invisible Squirrel and Le Spectre). Head over to Lewca’s Bandcamp site to order your vinyl, CD or digital downloads.
Lewca is a natural storyteller and in each song, you learn more about his life, loves, losses, dreams and realities. His songs usually contain witty self-deprecating humour, whilst others are poignant or angry at injustices in the world.
Lewca’s been influenced by everything from The Clash, Ian Dury, The Streets, Tom Waits, 2-Tone, Reggae, Hip Hop, Rave, and a thousand other artists and genres but crucially the influences aren’t mimicked, they just fuel his fire, and he retains his own character and distinctive voice.
The music assisted by his main man S.O.A.P. (DJ Son of a Pitch) takes on genres as fit the mood of each song so you can’t pigeonhole the Lewca sound.
Friday Night Rockstar - The Album
I’ve had early access “perks n shit” so I can provide this track-by-track album review…
Such a Cunt
Yes, this album has more than a few profanities on it so if that offends you or your sensibilities you might as well fuck off now. Still reading? Awesome! The album opens with a piano ballad and an acknowledgment that life is finite. It then offers a message of self-improvement set to wicked drum n bass track.
Friday Night Rockstar
Title track and first single from the album is an ode to the joys of being a weekend warrior. There’s some brilliant lyrics “Ain’t even made it, already overrated…since the late Nineties, I’ve been sedated”. “I’ll be yelling in a pub til they put me in the ground”. Punky metal shredding guitar riffs from John Michie and Zar Acoustic have been cut up and rearranged and these two appear on most of the album tracks. Liverpool’s psychedelic garage act Mondo Trasho also feature on the chorus.
Harmony Korine
A tale of Lewca’s 1980s childhood with a flashback inducing chorus about driving around, kids unrestrained in the backseat of a smoky car. Klaxons A bouncy electro track with klaxons. A song that deals with the passing of time and then comes full circle. The title is the name of a controversial filmmaker and skateboarder who is turning 50. I had a similar wake up call recently when I realised both Eminem and Johnny Lee Miller are both 50 now.
A Million Things
A short song about beloved comedian Bill Hicks. “This is just a ride…It feels like the Universe is falling to bits”.
Everyday Struggle
This is the flip side of Friday Night Rockstar, the daily grind and commute required to pay those bills. “It’s hard labour, I ain’t done no crime, I’m selling my life one day at a time”. Lewca acknowledges he can’t complain too much about his lot but it’s still a pain in the arse working for The Man. The music is catchy, and a bit of a bop enhanced with the awesome vocals of Oh! Paulo and the Harmonica of OrangeG.
Forget My Name
A song from the dark nights of the soul when the mind turns sour. Lewca talks of depression in the first half of the song and then says a door was opened and with help he came through the other side. Gorgeous vocals from Victory Flow lifts this song even higher making it one of the highlights of Lewca’s career.
Incredible
A song about Lewca under the influence at a karaoke party. His confidence in his abilities is chemically enhanced with James Willows crooning “I feel incredible I feel fucking awesome”. The voices in his head provided by Ambre are telling him “You’re so wicked baby loving your song I wanna listen to you all night long”. This universal acceptance of Lewca’s talent is undercut in Lewca’s own lyrics but they can’t get him off the mic. A classic single.
The Love Within
Lewca’s pornographic love song to his wife set to stabbing organ and funky bass.
Radio Gigolo
A song imagining future fame, when Lewca’s a changed into mainstream big shot. “I’d be like someone else I don’t even know. So hungry for fame I’d even sell my name for some spicy wings or a TV Show”. As Lewca admitted when I interviewed him, if he ever made it as a rock n roll star, he’ll probably be dead in a couple of years. So, buy his album but don’t buy two copies.
Golden God
Lewca raps over this unhinged backing track and contains many classic rhymes “don’t fuck with my mid-life crisis, got a cocktail bitch, show me where the ice is.” “I’m way too old and I’ve got a dad bod, no connection, no money, long shot”. “It’s fine in my mind I’m a golden god.” screams Lewca.
A Song
A punk hedonistic banger with Arabic and Caribbean trimmings. Lewca tells a few stories with a common theme when an angry girl in a club, an uncaring supervisor, and finally his kids tell him to cry them a river and write a fucking song about it. This is that song.
Fell In Love With A Serial Killer
A brilliant song written by Ben Todd and given the Lewca cartoon sheen as a serious theme - holding a relationship with a woman who enjoys killing people. They say love is blind and we’ve all got to go somehow, and no-one wants to die alone…
Smoke In The Air
The acidic drum n bass beats are back on the album’s closing track. “When I’m dead and gone, and the party is over, just play my song, look over your shoulder. I’ll be there, floating like the smoke from a Saturday night in the air”.
So that's the album. If you already know Lewca and have read this far you don't need any encouragement from me. Please share this review so others might discover him. If you are new to Lewca then you can find him on all the usual socials and streaming sites.
I urge you to order your copy of the excellent Friday Night Rockstar album on the format of your choice. It'll be out mid-December, so it'll make a great stocking filler for your kids!
Friday Night Rockstar is available from: https://lewca.bandcamp.com/music
Further Lewca Listening...
I interviewed Lewca and played several songs from this album on my November 2022 DAFTPOM Show on InYourEarsMusic.com. Lewca interview begins at 22 minutes.
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