Wonk Unit release album “Good Good Glad To Hear It”
A longtime banner carrier for fiercely independent DIY punk in the UK, Wonk Unit are teaming with Pirates Press Records to release their ninth studio LP, Good Good Glad To Hear It.
Based in the South London town of Croydon, the band has its origins in lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Alex Wonk’s experience in rehab 25 years ago, where he found journaling and sharing his experience with others liberating. After completing his time in hospital, Alex set about crafting songs from his “addiction journals,” and from this sharing of unvarnished honesty, Wonk Unit was born.
“Wonk Unit is a vessel for my life. My way of coping with its ups and downs,” says Alex. And their music has always intentionally defied easy classification and pigeonholing. “It was punk,” he says of the band’s earliest music, “but not as I’d previously known.”
The 12 songs on Good Good Glad To Hear It are the diverse fruits of a long term process of songwriting and collaboration that takes the listener on an emotional journey. “There are no rules in the Wonk song book other than everything has to have meaning and is important to me. These songs need to be written. They all had, for whatever reason, a burning desire to be released from my head,” says Alex, who estimates that more than half of the vocals, guitars, and keys on the finished product were recorded as voice notes using nothing more than his cell phone mic. Aside from “EQ magic” courtesy of long term engineer/co-producer Andy Brook, there is no studio trickery to hide behind, and what appears on the record are the raw takes as played by Alex and his bandmates Vez, Max, Pwosion, Ryan, and AJ, as well as a group of studio collaborators adding instrumentation such as keys, horns, and banjo.
The confessional spirit and emotional honesty of the songwriting shines through in every song on the record, and the opening track & lead single, “Rapidly Declining Dignity,” recalls Alex’s rehab journals. “The song is about me, 25 years ago. My life was fucked, I was dying, I had no soul. I didn’t care. The universe stepped in and here I am. It’s a sad, depressing song about addiction.” Yet ultimately, it is a song that could only be written by someone who survived to share the story.
On another album highlight, “Overwhelmed,” the songwriter turns his focus to his relationship with his daughter in the aftermath of his marriage falling apart. “[Our] shared single room…was separated into 2 halves by pink and blue curtains. One side Aubrey asleep in her cot, the other side me, only alive because of my daughter. Those were the saddest, most precious, painful, terrifying times of my life,” he shares, before adding, “Things are good now.”
Just as journaling and sharing with others in rehab helped Alex to get sober and see a way through to the next stage of life, sharing songs that speak the truth of his experiences with the band’s audience continues to carry him through life’s ongoing struggles. Consequently, the band has attracted a large and diverse group of devoted fans who immediately recognize that these are true stories of resilience that can serve as a touchstone in their own lives. The true stories on Good Good Glad To Hear It are certain to find their way to even more.
Pirates Press Records is proud to release Wonk Unit’s Good Good Glad To Hear It on 12” Classic Black Vinyl and 12” Transparent Orange & Black Swirl Vinyl. Pre-orders commence via the PPR webstore on October 04, 2024, and the record will be available everywhere on December 06.
