LOWREV, THE INDIE ENDEAVOR OF JOSH FIEDLER (THE JULIANA THEORY) ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM 'IT’S HARD TO LIE TO STRANGERS' AVAILABLE VIA EQUAL VISION RECORDS ON JUNE 26

MUSIC VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE, “WHERE YOU GOING?” OUT NOW

RECORDED BY FIEDLER AND MIXED BY ALI CHANT (PJ HARVEY, MARK RONSON, SOCCER MOMMY)

Legendary independent New York-based rock label Equal Vision Records and LOWREV are excited to announce the Friday, June 26 release of It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers, the debut album from singer-songwriter Josh Fiedler of The Juliana Theory, the Western Pennsylvania post-emo outfit he's been a founding member of for close to 30 years. An exercise in surveying a land Fiedler’s never been in and smelling the roses planted on it, It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers finds the veteran musician front-and-center of the proceedings with no sidebar steering committee to consider. 

Recorded in his basement studio at his home in Greensburg, PA, the album’s 12 tracks are quite the departure from Fiedler’s lyrical guitar attributes. He played and tracked all the vocals, guitars, keyboards and drum programming, calling in his old friend Justin Niedzwecki to bring more percussive oomph at certain junctures. Now LOWREV’s sonic introspection does manifest in unusual ways — it’s not like the album is tattling as if Fiedler is somehow held captive creatively within the framework of The Juliana Theory, and it’s certainly not a reinvention. Pre-order, pre-save and pre-add It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers HERE.

With the announcement comes the release of the album’s new single, “Where You Going?”, a song that captures the mindset of vigilante justice, imagining doing what needs to be done to predators that our criminal justice system fails to do. Watch the music video for “Where You Going?” directed by Tom Haas on YouTube HERE. 

When Josh Fiedler says that making a solo album was truly the last thing he ever wanted to do, trust us: He’s not fronting. While he’s proud of the accomplishments he’s made as a loving husband and doting dad, he’s also made his fair share of heads swivel as a founding member/lead guitarist of The Juliana Theory. But it was only last year that he decided to assume his position in the spotlight to write and record It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers, his solo debut for Equal Vision Records under the sobriquet LOWREV. 

Since completing the record in 2025, Fiedler has been downright excited. And for good reason: It’s because on It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers, every decision is all on him, resulting in a great number of highwater marks. “Time Has Faded” is a melancholy track addressing the flickering resonance of old friends who are no longer part of his life. The prairie-dusted, echo-laden guitars on “It’s True” feels like a drive through a desert at 3 a.m. toward your sweetheart. The shimmering electronics of “Interlude 26” portend the warm, and tender “Smiles Light Up The Room,” a post rock-textured valentine to his son who has autism. In a bizarre twist, he delivers a significantly darker version of La Roux’s 2009 hit, “Bulletproof,” simply because he could. And “Gather Power” brings down the curtain on the album with a cautionary tale about a relationship heading for sadness.

While the “sad bastard music” tag might fit, LOWREV’s upbeat tempos and Fiedler’s impassioned (as opposed to “wallowing”) vocal prowess articulates the songs significantly. When asked about his non-musical influences, Fiedler lists the usual suspects (“Wife, kids, wanting revenge on anybody that ever wronged me,” he says before laughing), but has grace about how far he’s gotten, professionally and psychically. “There’s that range of emotions that you’re having in your 40s of working a job, raising kids and having this double life.” 

For right now, however, Fiedler feels ambitious and confident on his first solo flight. With LOWREV, he’s not keeping up some kind of cool-dude appearance. After all, consider that album title. “Like I said, I have never wanted to do this in the past, and I just decided that I'm just gonna do it,” he resigns. “Whatever happens with it is cool. The fact that it got done is a major accomplishment to myself, given all the craziness that my life is. Besides, I’m so busy, I don't think my wife would let me start another band...”

It’s Hard To Lie To Strangers track listing:
I Hope I Get To See You Again
Where You Going?
It's True
It's Hard To Lie To Strangers
You're Nothing
Interlude 26
Smiles Light Up The Room
Time Has Faded
Bulletproof
Cold Shoulders
Gather Power