ALBUM REVIEW: This Land is Your Landfill – The Homeless Gospel Choir

Pittsburgh’s Derek Zanetti, perhaps better known as the main man behind THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR, has built a career by blending traditional folk music and punk, and tackling topics like politics and mental health. Over the course of his career, THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR has toured the world – both as a headliner and a support act – and released five strong full length albums. This Land is Your Landfill comes as the outfit’s six record, and continues Zanetti’s run of tackling the ills of the world.

Opening track Global Warming is a nice two minute song that introduces the listener into both THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR’s world of folk/punk blending, and fully into This Land is Your Landfill. Though the lyrics are a little on the nose, this is a fun start to the record. Despite the urgency of the lyrics, the poppy, folk punk hits all the right notes, and is infectious in its energy. This Land is Your Landfill marks a new chapter in the band’s life cycle; Zanetti has enlisted the help of numerous musicians this time around, rather than relying solely on himself. The impact of this shows well on songs like Art Punk, which takes on a light-hearted wonder as the gang vocals sound like a choir of schoolchildren. The punk instrumentation is toned down, allowing the folk elements to take centre stage, working to great effect.

For the most part, THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR manage to blend folk and punk to great effect. However, this mix isn’t always perfectly executed. Don’t Compare falls too far to the folk side of the band’s sound, and is a bit lost as it falls in a run of folk-heavy tracks at the start of the record. Further, with Social Real Estate the folk singing is jarring, falling far out of place and failing to work in harmony with the punk instrumentation. In contrast, however, You Never Know brings the folk influences to the fore, developing a unique style and Young and in Love bring a nice change of pace as a softer number. 

This softer punk style continues on with Lest We Forget, which delicately delves into the topic of mental health. The folk/punk sounds compliment each other, and Zanetti‘s soft voice gives off a sense of vulnerability – a vulnerability that continues with A Dream About the Internet. Ramping the punk elements right back up, Blind Faith makes great use of the full band, bass and drums coming back into play and the whole outfit using gang vocals. Hook-filled and carrying a real sing-a-long feel, this is one of the more memorable moments on This Land is Your Landfill. 

After a softer, slower mid-section, Figure It Out flips this pacing on its head. Folky melodies and universal lyrics tackling teenage angst give this penultimate track an uplifting edge, leading into the upbeat Punk As Fuck. Despite being one of the slower songs on This Land is Your Landfill, THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR bring a new emphasis to the punk elements of their sound, before bringing the record full circle as light folk music leads the album out. 

This Land is Your Landfill struggles to really get going. THE HOMELESS GOSPEL CHOIR struggle to figure out exactly how they’re trying to sound in the early moments on the record, the merge to folk and punk initially sounding clumsy. However, as the record progresses the band really come into their own, mastering the folk elements of their sound – unfortunately, the punk stylings fell short through the record. 

Rating: 6/10

This Land is Your Landfill is out now via Hassle Records. 

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