Stream Jimmy Doyle’s (The Fad) solo LP ‘Going Gray’ ft. Catbite & Modern Baseball members

Jimmy Doyle is perhaps best known for Long Island ska-punk band The Fad (whose 2008 LP Kill Punk Rock Stars cracked our list of all-time essential ska albums), but for his upcoming solo album Going Gray, he's going in a power pop direction inspired by Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ted Leo, Squeeze and Blondie.

The album was recorded in late 2019 with a backing band featuring Catbite members Tim Hildebrand (guitar) and Brittany Luna (keys, backing vocals), producer/bassist Ian Farmer (Modern Baseball and Slaughter Beach, Dog), and Lame-O Records founder/Cherry member Eric Osman on drums, and it's finally getting released this Friday (3/4). Ahead of the official release, we're premiering a full stream of the album in this post.

"I wrote a few of these songs after my band The Fad broke up (the first time) and about half of it was written in 2019 when I finally got the courage to do this for myself," Jimmy tells us. "'Come Sweetly' was actually a soul-inspired song I co-wrote with Jack Wright during our time in The Forthrights that I later arranged in a pub rock style. Pub Rock, Power Pop, New Wave, whatever you want to call it was my inspiration for the sound of this record. Artists like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ted Leo, Squeeze & Blondie are huge influences of mine & I hope that even a shred of that comes through."

"The songs are about getting older, dealing with loss & coming to terms with your own mortality," he adds. "It's also a little bit about pizza."

The influences that Jimmy names absolutely do come through, and if you like any or all of those bands, I think you'll like this too. The songs are punchy and driving in all the right ways, and the melodies are sugar-sweet. Listen to the full LP below and pre-order a vinyl copy via Bandcamp. Jimmy says he's expecting to receive vinyl in September, and it'll be available in two variants, one he's calling "Salt & Pepper" (translucent marble gray) and also "Jet Black."