![Jonathan Francis Releases "Borrowed Songs Vol. 1"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2021/BorrowedSongs.jpg "Jonathan Francis Releases "Borrowed Songs Vol. 1"")
New Jersey based musician Jonathan Francis (Stolpe) of former punk band, The Moms (Bar/None Records, has releases his new EP ‘Borrowed Songs Vol. 1’ - a collection of originals and covers. Recorded at Little Eden in Asbury Park by Pete Steinkopf of the Bouncing Souls, BSV1 EP precedes a full length LP, featuring Francis’ new band The Anxiety Society, scheduled for 2021 release.
“The Borrowed Songs EP is a collection of tunes, both borrowed and my own, that I felt sum up the current political landscape we find ourselves in," said Jonathan. "Though these songs were written across the last 80 years, they resonate like it was yesterday.”
The EP includes a new cover of “Thanks, Bastards” by Mischief Brew. Jonathan said he chose this song because of, "the growing awareness about the expanding police state specifically, but also as folks start to question more and more if our government is really working for us.”
Jonathan Francis started developing the new project in 2018 while staying across town at The Albatross Hotel in Ocean Grove. Taking a collection of new songs that he had been developing over the past few years while living in the seasonal depressed city by the sea, Francis took The Moms’ recent breakup and the Fire Marshall condemning his apartment to mean it was time for something new. Along with the help of his brother and long time music partner Matthew Stolpe (The Moms, MakeWar), the sound started to come alive with Steinkopf’s guidance and some Little Eden magic.
The Moms had formed in a New Brunswick bedroom in 2011. Cultivated in the dirtiest of basements, the band hit the road in support of their first EP “Viva!” in 2012. The NJ punk’s took that old Chevy van across the seas and back, finding themselves featured in Billboard, ABC’s “The Chew”, Food and Wine Magazine, and more. The Moms supported artists such as The Menzingers, Jeff Rosenstock, The Front Bottoms, Brick + Mortar, & I Am The Avalanche amongst others over the years. Releasing their final LP in 2017 “Doing Asbestos We Can” on Bar/None Records, The Moms’ played their farewell show at NJ haunt Crossroads in January of 2019.
Francis’ new EP takes an alternative, stripped down approach, featuring an original song along with some covers that hold new meaning in 2020 terms. This straight to the point 3-pack of songs is delivered with Francis’ 335 and the same conviction in his voice as when he first climbed in the van.
Francis’s new group, The Anxiety Society, features a line up of undisclosed New Jersey musicians. The sound cites the days of Asbury Park’s former glory while Francis’ lyrics reflect on the dark side of the boardwalk town. “I wanted to convey what the coldest, loneliest winter night on the beach feels like, and in the same breath the excitement you feel on your way to the summer stage for the first time that season. That’s the magic of this fucked up place called Asbury Park and that’s what I wanted to express.”
![Jonathan Francis Releases "Borrowed Songs Vol. 1"](https://www.newjerseystage.com/events2021/Francis-March10.jpg "Jonathan Francis Releases "Borrowed Songs Vol. 1"")
