Many of our trusty readers/music "nerds" may well know Jonah Ray from either Mystery Science Theater 3,000 (MST3K) or The Nerdist Podcast or even his band, Pressers with Cody Votolato from The Blood Brothers/King Krule and Denver Dalley from Desaparecidos/Har Mar Superstar. Come to find out, Jonah is, also, a member of the esteemed Hawaiian Punk scene, which I didn't even know existed until writing this very sentence! Now, Jonah Ray has joined forces with Mike Park & Asian Man Records for his first ever solo musical release, You Can't Call Me Al. It's a collection of five "Weird" Al Yankovic classics paired with original music, in the vein of said Hawaiian Punk scene; "the result is a crazy mish-mash of Atom & His Package meets Jeff Rosenstock meets Weezer meets warmed hearts," reads an on-site Asian Man Records product description. Jonah Ray's You Can't Call Me Al EP will feature charismatically Punk-ified renditions of Weird Al's "Dare to Be Stupid," "Frank's 2000" TV," "Amish Paradise," and "Eat It," plus, a "New Wave" version of the "Reptilicus" Rap from MST3K.


Cody Votolato from The Blood Brothers, Pressers, and King Krule's touring band plays guitar throughout You Can't Call Me Al and FIDLAR's Zac Carper helmed production duties for Jonah's inaugural EP. Jay Howell, who has done original character design for both Bob's Burgers and Sanjay & Craig, created an exclusive YOU CAN'T CALL ME AL T-shirt logo as part of Asian Man's super-limited JONAH RAY 12" BUNDLE. Jonah additionally recruited Dana Lechtenberg to design a special etching to be featured on the B-side of Asian Man's one-sided 12-inch EP. Coinciding with his release announcement, Jonah Ray let loose our first proper sonic preview of You Can's Call Me Al by way of his Punked up cover of Weird Al's beloved Coolio "Gangsta's Paradise" cover, "Amish Paradise." Jonah Ray's You Can't Call Me Al EP is now available in a number of pre-order packages directly from Asian Man Records ahead of it's Friday, August 9th wide release.

"So, a bit ago, for kicks, I would make Punk songs and use Weird Al lyrics. Then, my old Hawaii buddy @zacharydoncarper from @fidlar said, "brah, let's record 'um!" I thought that was a stupid idea, so I said, "yes." Then, we called @codyvotolato from @thebloodbrothers to accompany me (along with a yeti growl by @nails13.) @chantalclaret said, "call it #YouCantCallMeAL." I was just gonna release on Bandcamp, but, then, @mikeparkmusic from Skankin' Pickle said he'd put it out as a one-sided [12-inch] vinyl on @asianmanrecords! I used a photo @daltongaudin took for the art and got @subpop2000 to do the etching on the B-side of the [12-inch] and then, @punksgitcut from BOB'S BURGERS did a shirt design that will be sold as a combo! Also! This past weekend me, @davidblyons, @paulbonanno, @micahslay & @roboticwilly got a ton of friends together and made a last-minute quick video. Liiiink in Bio. Portions of the profits will go to the ASPCA. The single, "Amish Paradise," is out now and pre-orders are available."

- Jonah Rodrigues (@jonahray)