REVIEW: JPW + Dad Weed 'Amassed Like a Rat King'

[Repost from Rosy Overdrive; April 28, 2025]

Pressing Concerns: JPW & Dad Weed – Amassed Like a Rat King

Release date: April 22nd

Record label: Fort Lowell

Genre: Power pop, psychedelic pop, college rock

Formats: Vinyl, digital

Pull Track: Everybody’s Talking (Again)

Some of you may already be familiar with Jason P. Woodbury due to his work as a writer and interviewer for the great blog Aquarium Drunkard (among other places). Like many other music writers (i.e. Sam Sodomsky with The Bird Calls, Winston Cook-Wilson with Office Culture), Woodbury also makes music himself–he released an album called Something Happening / Always Happening in 2022 via Fort Lowell Records. Last year, the Phoenix-based Woodbury linked up with another Arizonian musician, Zach Toporek, who makes music under the name Dad Weed, and the two released a collaborative EP called Two Against Nurture. That record turned out to just be the start, as the duo have made an entire album together called Amassed Like a Rat King (credited to JPW & Dad Weed–who needs to come up with fancy side project names, anyway?). That album title is honestly pretty metal, but that couldn’t be further away from the music the two of them make here–recalling power pop, jangle pop, and college rock of the 1960s through the 1980s and lightly baked by the southwestern sun, JPW & Dad Weed’s first album together is a comfortable but undeniably hooky guitar pop LP.

Woodbury and Toporek couldn’t ease us more smoothly into the world of Amassed Like a Rat King if they tried–the opening title track is almost impossibly laid-back, an excellent chugging bass guitar setting the stage for a hazy, lazy desert pop introduction. “It’s Happening” is a little more lively and even a little bit nervous (in a Lowe/Crenshaw/Costello sense) at times, but the duo don’t forget to nail the power pop chorus. The no-bullshit, all-business jangle-power pop of “Everybody’s Talking (Again)” crosses the economy of Dazy with the southwestern vibes of Dust Star and the most recent Young Guv album. The quiet, lo-fi “Far Off Road” indulges the stranger sides of JPW and Dad Weed, and though they get back to power pop soon enough (check the floppy rock and roll of “Frightening” right afterwards), they return to the odd well for the alleyway country of “Not Sure What I’m Looking At” and the Segall-ish psychedelia of “Figure of Speech”–not to mention the record’s final two songs, both of which opt for minimalist instrumentation and simple drum machine beats. By the second half of Amassed Like a Rat King, the gap between songs like this and stuff like “Straight Lines” (a more obvious but nonetheless meandering pop song) starts to blur together, and the album starts to feel more and more like a friendly drive through the desert with some friends. It’s a party on the road, and oblivion on both sides of you. (Bandcamp link)

REVIEW: JPW + Dad Weed "It's Happening"

[Repost from Here Comes the Flood; by Hans Werksman, April 28, 2025]

Phoenix, AZ, lo-fi duo JPW & Dad Weed have made a video for It's Happening: "a scuzzy sounding exploration of left-field indie rock, as if the instruments have been gathering dust for a couple of decades. Somehow everything still works, which comes as a surprise for the musicians themselves. The bass and drums only interlude is a 101 for less is more, before giving way to a Tom Verlaine inspired guitar leading the way to a 60s Sci-Fi psych coda." It is a track from their Amassed Like a Rat King album.

» jasonpwoodbury.com

» Dad Weed on Instagram

HCTF review of Amassed Like a Rat King

REVEIW: JPW + Dad Weed 'Amassed Like a Rat King'

[Repost from The Shrieking Fox Punk; by Fox Wolf, April 26, 2025]

On the indie rock powerhouse label of Fort Lowell, comes “Amassed Like a Rat King,” via the collaboration between JPW and Dad Weed.  Firstly, 1000 points for using “amassed” as part of the title. I’m a word nerd.

Going into this, as I do with a lot of the newest rock material, I don’t really know much about the groups or projects. That actually kinda works out, as I can bounce into the album with zero assumptions outside of what the press kit says. It’s always a nice surprise, trust me. And, yes, this one was a nice surprise.

So, how does this LP sound? Fucking fantastic! Psychedelic indie rock with elements of jangle, pop and it’s certainly got its roots deep in alternative.  Like, there’s a solid shot of 90s goodness resting on a foundation of modern alternative rock building blocks. This is the kinda stuff I’d surely hear on my local indie station (especially if I worked there…) or one of my local college stations. Solid. Jam on.

Lyrically, this is some good stuff. A nice mix of catchy zing and graceful pop poetry; it’s the kinda stuff you can easily sing along with, especially in the car with the windows down. Hell yeah. Makes me hungry for a follow-up LP or EP.

If I really had to compare the sound to bands I know, I’d say it’s a mix of Breeders, Primal Scream, Dinosaur Jr, Love Battery, Flaming Lips, and a dash of Arcade Fire. I mean, it’s much, much more than these comparisons, but it’s the best I can say, yeah? Just spin it yourself, and you’ll see it stand out rather nicely on its own.

This gem is pressed on green vinyl. Limited edition of 100. Get it before it’s gone.

REVIEW: JPW + Dad Weed 'Amassed Like a Rat King'

[Repost from Anna Bartkowski; April 24, 2025]

I grew up with the sounds of the Beatles,the Beach Boys, CCR—some of the greatest music ever recorded. So when I come across new music that instantly resonates with me, I feel compelled to share it.

Full disclosure: I’ve known Jason and Zach for years—Jason is my son-in-law. But that connection alone isn't why I'm raving about their music. It’s because the songs truly deserve it. Give them a listen, and I think you’ll agree: the praise is well-earned.

Amassed Like a Rat King is such a brilliant album—I danced through most of the tracks. Yes, danced! And let’s be honest, we could all use the aerobic boost and endorphin rush that comes with moving to great music. Even my dogs were into it.

Check it out on your favorite streaming service—and keep an eye out, because the green vinyl edition is dropping soon.

REVIEW: JPW & Dad Weed 'Amassed Like a Rat King'

[Repost from Add to Wantlist; by Dennis, April 23, 2025]

New album: JPW & Dad Weed || Amassed Like a Rat King

Desert dreams and cosmic connections

Here we find folky psych pop that meets melancholic alt-rock, in a timeless kaleidoscope of sound and sentiment—solid but surprising.

The Two Against Nurture EP was a promising taster of the collaboration between JPW aka Jason P. Woodbury and Dad Weed aka Zachary Toporek, their first joint full-length Amassed Like a Rat King—the title track is an ode to Woodbury’s rural Arizona upbringing—lives up to expectations. The eleven songs emerged from friendship and mutual admiration, a shared ‘third mind’ situation and studio alchemy led to a captivating audio document of memory and motion. “You could call it God // I think I’d rather not (it’s happening)” we hear in the telling single It’s Happening, set to animations from IBM’s 1958 The Information Machine film. Probably it is the synergy of shared inspiration, creative minds and a cosmic connection?

“What you’re calling out // Makes me feel something” are the final lines of the elastic closing track What If I Were Dying, and that’s just the way it is.

Amassed Like a Rat King is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Fort Lowell Records.