Elijah Johnston - Hometown Vampire
Hometown Vampire, the sixth studio release from Athens-based pop powerhouse Elijah Johnston is due October 6, 2023 via the New West Records imprint Strolling Bones Records. The 11-track set was produced, engineered, and mixed by Tommy Trautwein at Tweed Recording Audio Production School in Athens, GA and features an ensemble of local staples including Gideon Johnston – Elijah’s brother and longtime collaborator, Cannon Rogers, Gracie Huffman, Drew Beskin, and others.
A tongue-in-cheek celebration of trivial barroom gossip, “Social Smoker” is an instant honky tonk singalong. Atop a beachy, Jimmy Buffet-inspired soundscape, Johnston pokes fun at those guilty late-night pleasures we all indulge in from time to time. “It’s a love/hate letter to the nights and the bars where people waste time like it’s their job,” he shares.
Drawing inspiration from a diverse repertoire of musical influences including The Beatles, Billy Joel, and Death Cab for Cutie, Johnston describes Hometown Vampire as “a heady and humorous rumination on the dangers of small town celebrity and the ego destruction needed to survive in love, music, or life as a whole.” Through soaring guitar riffs, hummable melodies, and painfully earnest lyrics, Johnston reconciles with the anxiety of stagnation while accepting that the threat of such an omen may be the only motivation for change.
Central to the album is the ambiguous “vampire” motif – which Johnston explains as “any of the lowlifes we see around us or in ourselves…the kinds of people who live in the past and stew in bitterness.” He recognizes that none of us are immune to vampire-like tendencies; that remaining aware of our downfalls is how we keep destructive vices at bay. He elaborates on this theme in the infectious anti-anthem, “Hometown Vampire,” where driving, pop-punk bass lines underline urgent, self deprecating admissions that remain prominent on each ensuing track.
Hometown Vampire opens with “Second Chances,” Johnston’s tribute to all the guilty pleasures that bring color to the world. He celebrates making out in a graveyard, speaking in exaggerated accents, and ditching law school all in the name of carpe diem. On “Drewbie Got a Haircut,” he wrestles with jealousy, insecurity and ego, introducing a shadow side to the record’s mostly tongue-in-cheek disposition, while succinct, intermediary arrangements like “Syrup” highlight the confessional, stream of consciousness writing style that has become a fixture in Johnston’s work.
Two standout tracks bring the record to completion – “8AM” addresses powerlessness and desperation through a strikingly simple piano ballad, while “Nobody Ever Feels This Way” embraces the superficial paragons of the 80s, in Johnston’s words, “to both mock and console who I was as a younger and more volatile person.”
With sincerity and conviction, Elijah Johnston brilliantly captures the intricacies of everyday existence through imaginative storytelling, irresistible charm, and timeless wisdom.