Everything's Burning

John Roy sounds like a man trying to explain common sense to a room that has already moved past logic. His delivery is calm and dry, picking at cultural oddities like the network television grip of Les Moonves or the petty domestic bargains of adulthood.

Recorded at the Comedy Club on State in Madison, Wisconsin, the 2017 release was Roy’s third full-length album, put out by indie label aspecialthing Records. By that point, the Chicago native had spent years on the club circuit, making late-night appearances, and running a widely circulated open-source comedy writing guide.

The material ranges from the reality of living on a partner’s restrictive diet to saluting Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. Tracks like “Tolerance with Mustard and Peppers” and “Checkmate Your Privilege” examine social discourse through an everyday Midwestern lens, framing contemporary anxieties as nothing more than avoidable bureaucratic headaches.