There are rare occasions when one just so happens to stumble upon an album—such as JustFolk’s Best of JustFolk 2012-2025—where the songs sound so good, it’s nothing less than a chore to get through (listening-wise, that is) one tune, because you’re so amped about it you just know there’s stuff just as good, if not better, on the rest of the collection.
This sentiment is encapsulated flawlessly on the foresaid pastiche of songs that was released at the end of last year. JustFolk has hits. As in, way, way more than one.
Of course, it’s easy to infer that that should be the case because, by all intents and purposes, this appears to be an anthology spanning the better part of two decades. So what? That fact does little to mitigate the reality that the opener on this affair, “Look What You’ve Done”, is a bona fide, certified, worthy-of-winning-awards hit record.
Perfection doesn’t begin to describe what the group has going on on “Done”. The acoustic guitar work? Pure. Peerless. It sparkles and basks alongside a piano—although it very well may be keys—that actually have the nerve to do the exact same thing. Plus, the honeyed vocals of lead singer Todd Kolod are nothing short of remarkable.
He can sing as quietly, as unassuming, as the tracks are on many of these cuts. Plus, he tends to take his sweet, sweet time no matter how fast the BPMs are, which one can simply throw on “So Much” to witness for oneself.
Just dig the way he’s able to glide his voice into what appears to be a female’s in the background, ever higher-pitched than his is, yet so tastefully mixed and blended that they become strongly inseparable. Hearing him and the background vocalist simply kick back on a couple of “mmmmhmmmms” is almost as enchanting as hearing Sam Cooke do it in his heyday.
On this LP, the hits just keep coming. And, like the most expansive albums, they do so with different moods and trajectories. “Rivertown” is a delightful case in point. The bass line is so hard, and so pronounced, that the tune damn near sounds better bereft of vocals. It’s unclear what the group was going for with the track, but what they got is what more than one person would call, affectionately, ‘gangsta sh*t’. You can easily see any western hero—though villain, would be more appropriate for this music—riding out to this one.
But, enough talk, panegyrics, and praise. Get a dose of the album for yourself and, if so moved, jump on JustFolk’s hype.