Cong Josie – Moto Zone [IMPORT Black Smoke Vinyl] – New LP

The wild greaser with an ever-broken heart, Cong Josie, is back! His eagerly anticipated sophomore album; Moto Zone, pulls up throbbing, revving, sweating and grinding hotter than bitumen on a summer day. It is a non-stop EBM’in’, synth-punkin’, rock ’n’ rollin’ and doo-woppin’ sizzler, in much the same vein as his 2021 debut Cong!. With this release however, Cong pushes his own M.O. even deeper. The throbs get bolder, the NRG goes harder, slow sleaze hip-grinding enters and the dream washes return to envelope all that hear them like a siren’s call.

On Moto Zone, Cong conjures the age of rock ’n’ roll, a world of motorcycle gangs and hot rods, leather, chains, backcombing and hair pomade, with an Aussie twist on greaser ‘cool’. Confessional lyrics tell tales of addiction and mental illness tracing the scars of a troubled past. Cong says the “Motozone” reflects his daily life and mindset. A life of ADHD, burning the midnight oil, living on black coffee, obsessively creating and revving through every day. Ultimately Cong is reaching for bliss, feeling connection and a new world in these songs.

Exhilarating? Anxious? Hedonistic? Dangerous? Beautiful? A lust for life? The record is all of the above.

On Moto Zone a number of collaborators appear once again (aka The Hell Racers). Cayn Borthwick (AKA Johnny Cayn) once again co-wrote a majority of the songs and played a slew of instruments on the album. Mona Reves (Simone Page-Jones), Milla McQueen (AKA Camilla McKewen) lend their vocals and contribute heavily to the whole album, Athina Uh Oh from Gut Health sings on the zeibekiko stomper, ‘Do The Tarantula’, Con Kalamaras (Naarm Greek rebetika hero) gets the bouzouki out for ‘Crime Time TV’, Madoula Mouskouri (AKA Maddie Otto) joins Cong on ‘Lucinda’ and Sashi Dhahrann provides bass on ‘Lucinda’, ‘1300 Scorpio’ and ‘Crime Time TV’.