Joe Sampson - When Did Things Become So So-So?

Don't be thrown off by the dark downbeat track titles, When Did Things Become So So-So? packs a pop-synth punch, existing somewhere between '80s electronic sounds and the scary level in your favourite PS1 game.

The album came to be within a locked-down Canterbury, where Joe Sampson (Salad Boys, T54, The Dance Asthmatics) sat down with his microKORG and dreamed up ten buzzy instrumental tracks to be released on homemade cassettes, featuring the cover artwork of James Harding (The Transistors).

When Did Things Become So So​-​So? satisfies Stereolab cravings on 'There's Happiness Outside These Walls', with a dollop of Lemon Jelly quirk on 'It’s Remarkable How Steeply Things Dropped Off' and 'You've Lost Me (Years Ago)', and don't worry – Sampson has confirmed that the song titles are in jest and not a cry for help...

Recorded, mixed and mastered between March and May 2020 at MF1&2 Studios, Christchurch, NZ.

All tunes written and performed by Joe Sampson, mostly with a MicroKorg XL+

Tracklist:
A1 This Has Been An Issue For As Long As I Can Remember
A2 When Did Things Become So So-So?
A3 You've Lost Me...Years Ago
A4 There's Happiness Outside These Walls
B1 I'm Under No Obligation To Enjoy Myself
B2 I'll Never Be What I Once Believed I Could've Been
B3 It's Remarkable How Steeply Things Dropped Off
B4 You Don't Know How Bad It Can Get
B5 I Guess This Is Me Now
B6 This Is Not How I Pictured The End