Back in January 2023, longtime Milwaukee glam/punk/power/sleaze-pop group Indonesian Junk called it quits. “It’s been a great 8 1/2 years playing with Mike, Johnny, and all of the other amazing people who have been in and out of this band,” said singer-songwriter Daniel James in a statement. “There’s no bad blood or anything, we’re all cool with each other and just decided that it was time.”
James has been plenty busy since, releasing new material with punk band Chinese Telephones and playing out with the political-minded World In Action. And now, he’s reviving his long-dormant solo project, The Daniel James Gang, to release even more new music. Feast your ears on the Gang’s first single, “Misery,” below. Unsurprisingly, fans of Indonesian Junk will find a lot to love here:
The perfectly rendered leather-clad and wallowing-in-sorrow power-pop gem features James on guitar and bass, Chinese Telephone’s Logan Stang on drums, and City Mouse’s Miski Dee on backing vocals. It was recorded at home and by Ian Olvera at Wire & Vice, and mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering. Also: man, that guitar lick sounds goooood.
More singles from James and his solo Gang are expected in the weeks and months ahead. You’ll also be able to catch the project live May 31 at Bremen Cafe in Milwaukee, and June 1 at Liar’s Club in Chicago. “I don’t think we’ll be playing live a lot, so I wanna make these shows kinda special,” James says. You heard the man! BE THERE.
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