‘Who Knows‘ is the new single from Josh Halper’s album ‘Alrightnik‘, and if you detect a touch of Randy Newman about it then you’re in good company. Josh Halper admits as much, with ‘Alrightnik‘ featuring amongst Halper’s own songs and instrumental tracks a cover of ‘Dayton, Ohio 1903.‘
We’ve heard from Josh Halper before – he played guitar in Big Surr who made a righteous noise back in 2017. ‘Alrightnik‘ couldn’t get much further from that sound – it’s a laid back and ironic album which comes at least in part, Halper suggests, from his background of being “raised in Tennessee by a Jewish, New York, Deadhead…” Halper also claims that the title ‘Alrightnik‘ is as much a self-deprecating jibe at himself as a criticism of anyone else – the phrase is American-Yiddish slang for a successful person, but of the nouveau riche kind – someone who is a little crass, a little smug. Halper owns it, he says, because of his penchant for bolo ties and shirts with eye-popping patterns. Well…to each their own, man.
‘Who Knows‘ shuffles through some confusion of stories and events as “everyone knows where I’m going / everyone knows where I’ve been” – everyone that is but Halper himself: “I don’t remember what I did last night – so I’ll ask them.”
‘Alrightnik‘ is out December 4th from Dear Life Records as a digital album or physically as a cassette tape. Well…to each their own, man.
