The Joy Formidable: "The Big Roar"

Every time I hear someone mention The Joy Formidable, there is never a consensus as to what to call them; some refer to them as art rock, others as noise rock/pop, others as generic indie (rock), but there is never any agreement to where exactly to place them. This, in fact, is one of the attractions to this Welsh trio: you cannot commodify them by any single label. I learnt that myself when I interviewed the band (link) and reviewed their debut release, “A Balloon Called Moaning” (link). Releasing their first full-length album, “The Big Roar” (24 January 2011 in the UK, 15 March 2011 in the USA), The Joy Formidable proves true to form: powerful music that does not follow the clichés of current indie. Miles away from revivalism, and even further away from glossy, frilly recordings that capitalize on production gimmicks and not songwriting talent, this is an album of amazingly brilliant craftsmanship.



Here are three ways to look at the album: confident, big, and poetically brutal.

There is nothing tentative about this album. No production gimmicks to enhance the band’s sound, the band is confident enough to put their music out there in the most minimalist fashion possible at times, and at others as bombastic as the best of them. In fact, The Joy Formidable was so confident of their product that they included previous released material on this much-anticipated debut, which breathes new life into these songs. It was like I was listening to “Cradle” for the very first time. Regardless if you are listening to the epic opening, “The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie,” which wallows through noisy arrangements and backgrounds, or the straightforward “Austere” or the mysterious “Chapter 2,” each song on the album breathes conviction through and through. There is no feigned posturing, just viscerally powerful music.

It is rare for a trio to have such a big sound … and “The Big Roar” as a title is more than appropriate. It is not big in the sense of arena, stadium, or festival ready (which it is on all three fronts!), but it is big in concept. Just relisten to the familiar “Whirring.” Is it indie pop? Is it noise pop? Is it art rock? Is it shoegaze? Is it Britpop? No, no, no, no, no … it is all of that and more. The music on the album capitalizes on its mutability within each track and each track’s ability to reference musically more than most bands do. What should be a cacophony that makes you run in the other direction ends up becoming a big adventure through different, often time aggressive, sonic terrains that are tempered and made seductive by Ritzy Bryan’s mesmerizing voice. But make no mistake, that aggressive music is as mesmerizing; take “A Heavy Abacus” for example: from soft and hollow, to lusciously full and dreamy, each terrain of music is meant to illicit not just a visceral response, but a physical one as well.

I am a lyrics person, but lyrics fall short when the band cannot sell them with the music and the vocalist with conviction – not the case here. The music wraps around the lyrics perfectly (or is it the other way around?), while you cannot stop wanting to listen to Bryan’s voice. But these are not great poetic lyrics for poetical posturing; these are great and brutally honest poetical lines for catharsis. “My Love, love is the everchanging spectrum of a lie, a lie to hide behind when nothings right…” (“The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie”). Now I’ve been there! But not all the lyrics are personal, some have great social implications, like in “The Magnifying Glass”: “…the world is cruel and outsides licking lips, all I know let’s shed the myth.” Of course, the most heart wrenching one is at the close of the album: “..this dream is in a telescope now…” (The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade”), far away, perhaps never reachable.

I have waited for quite some time for this album, and “The Big Roar” was well worth the wait. In a nutshell, I think everyone should give The Joy Formidable’s “The Big Roar” a bash.

Track Listing:
1. The Everchanging Spectrum Of A Lie
2. The Magnifying Glass
3. I Don’t Want To See You Like This
4. Austere
5. A Heavy Abacus
6. Whirring
7. Buoy
8. Maruyama
9. Cradle
10. Llaw = Wall
11. Chapter 2
12. The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade

Keep up with The Joy Formidable at their homepage, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

“Austere” (original video), “Cradle,” “I Don’t Want To See You Like This,” “Austere” (official video), and “Whirring” from their YouTube Channel: TheJoyFormidable.









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Videos on a Hectic Tuesday

Life, life, life... sort of gets in the way sometimes. I was not able to sit down and write up a review (or two), but I did not want a Tuesday to go by without a posting... so here are some videos that I hope you enjoy.

Blacklist's "Flight of the Demoiselles" from their YouTube Channel: blacklistnyc.



She & Him's "In the Sun" from the DominoRecords YouTube Channel.



Stornoway's "I Saw You Blink" from the 4ADRecords YouTube Channel.



Arctic Monkeys' "My Propeller" from the DominoRecords YouTube Channel.



The Joy Formidable's "Popinjay" from their YouTube Channel: TheJoyFormidable.



O.Children's "Ruins" from their YouTube Channel: ochildrentv.

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Videos on a Brisk Evening

Ah, that brisk air is blowing through my window - autumn is here! This is definitely my favorite time of the year. Thought I would catch up on a few videos by artists we have posted before. Hope you enjoy!

V.V. Brown's "Game Over" from her YouTube Channel: VVBrownTV.



The Joy Formidable's "Greyhounds in the Slips" from their YouTube Channel: TheJoyFormidable.



Reverend and the Makers' "No Soap in a Dirty War" from the WallOfSoundRecording YouTube Channel.



IAMX's "President" from their YouTube Channel: iamx.



Fever Ray's "Seven" from the MuteUSA YouTube Channel.

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Catching up with Gossip and The Joy Formidable

I am not one of these people that believe that the measure of the worth of a band is how long they stay underground. Even though I have decided to really concentrate on bands that are not in the mainstream (that is top 20), the reality is that all musicians want their music to be heard - that is why it is recorded and performed for the public. One of the things I really enjoy the most is when a band, on their own merits and not with the help of a promotional campaign funded by major labels, break through and start to garnish attention. There are moment when this defies the very notion of what is mainstream, like the Cure in 1989, or can even help to redefine music, like Muse's political awareness in 2006. Regardless, here are two bands that deserve to be praised on their own terms - Gossip and the Joy Formindable. Both bands have started to make waves with their music, both bands have started to attract both audiences and critical respect, and both bands have done it on their terms.

Gossip: “Music for Men”

So much is being made about Beth Ditto (vocalist) of Gossip. On one hand, she is being hailed a punk icon, but the latest album, “Music for Men” (released 19 June 2009 in the Netherlands, 22 June 2009 in the UK, 23 June 2009 in the USA), is a major label release. On the other hand, she is being hailed a rising pop icon, despite that she does not fit the stereotype of the role: she is a plus sized lesbian. The reality, however, is that she should be praised, not for a an album that is making waves on album charts all over the world, or all the garrulous attention that the band is getting, but rather for her artistic integrity. From comments about not wanting to play for an audience that does not know the Ramones to taking on topics in music that would ruin other musicians, Ditto and Gossip (which also includes Brace Paine on guitar and bass and Hanna Bille on drums) are proving that musical integrity and conscientious craftsmanship is the key to strong music.

I hear the hardcore fans already… but they are on a major label now; they sold out. To this I say, “Do you expect a band with this much talent to stay underground forever?” The rise of Gossip is on their merit, and not some corporate scheme to sell out and make big bucks (though those bucks may be in store for them). Sure, the album is not as in-your-face as the previous music (I got to see them in 2007 on the True Colors Tour, and even some in that crowd were a bit put off by some of what they had to say – I loved it). But that confrontational, punk rock mentality is here, present as ever. Ditto sings in “Heavy Cross”: “We can play it safe, or play it cool, follow the leader, or make up all the rules. Whatever you want, the choice is yours, so choose…” And if you think Gossip is trying to write a lovely love song for pop credibility, then listen to “2012”: “A tragedy loves misery; misery loves company; company is misleading; I’ve made it this far without you…” Surely this is not the material for a pop ditty.

“Four Letter Word” is an ingeniously childish song: “L is for leaving, O is for on time, V is for the voices warning me I’ll lose my mind, E is for the ending, the unhappy ending of the four letter word.” (And here you thought the four-letter word was “Fuck.”) Musically the album is pretty straightforward, with a few new production gimmicks (Rick Rubin did produce this album). It may not be as edgy as the previous two albums, which is criticized by many, but I am sure if they produced the same sound again these same people would be bitching about that too. “Four Letter Word” (which borders on electropop), “Pop Goes the World” (cowbell and all), and “Vertical Rhythm” (sleek, straightforward rock) are the three most musically interesting tracks on the album; however, there is no filler here.

The most insincere thing a musician can say is that they write and perform music for themselves; if this were true, they would stay at home in their parent’s garage and play all day with their friends. Musicians want their music to be heard; perhaps they may not care whether or not their music charts, but they want the opportunity to have as many people as possible listen to what they have created. No one says, “I am going to record an album, but I only want 100,000 suburbanites to buy the album.” If the music is good, there is always the possibility of becoming big (in the sense of a following) and obtaining longevity. I hope Ditto and the rest of Gossip make no apologies for their major label debut. I hope that they continue to do things the exact way they want to, because what they have produced is a sincere album, that will get you on your feet, dancing or slamming, and enjoying their groovy sound. The rest of the humbugging is just bullshit. Get the album.



Track Listing:
1. Dimestore Diamond
2. Heavy Cross
3. 8th Wonder
4. Love Long Distance
5. Pop Goes the World
6. Vertical Rhythm
7. Men in Love
8. For Keeps
9. 2012
10. Love and Let Love
11. Four Letter Word
12. Spare Me from the Mold

Keep up with Gossip at their homepage and MySpace.

The Joy Formidable: “A Balloon Called Moaning”

“A Balloon Called Moaning” (19 January 2009) got right by me when I first started the blog. But since I discovered it, it has been on my iPod. I had the pleasure of getting the band to answer a few questions for me (link) and wanted to give you more in way of talking about the actual music. This is an amazing album, on many levels. Both musically and for what the band is trying to accomplish with how it is promoting/distributing their album. What the Joy Formidable understands, because they themselves are fans of music, is that there are many ways to invest in a band: whether selling a CD or a concert ticket or a t-shirt or spreading the word by forcibly making people listen to the album in your car as you are driving fast on the NJ Turnpike, people invest differently in a band.

I have written about the free music debate (link) and this is not meant to continue that debate, but rather to give a point of reference. In a gamble, they offered their music in two formats: a free download on their website and on CD. They found that most people who downloaded the album for free also purchased the CD. Why? Because they gave the chance to fans to listen and invest. And that is the thing about this album: you will want to invest; it is infectious as all hell.

The album opens with “The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade” (I do love a good oxymoron). This is one of those songs that is hard to put a finger on. With an oscillating background, a steady beat, and airy vocals, you can label this song just about anything you want – but what you will agree is that it is an incredible, epic scaled, opening for an album. The next two songs are power-packed gems. “Cradle” is a great fuck-you-it’s-over song: “I can see he says what he means; I can’t say what he means when he says that I’ll pretend a pretty pretend, when all I wanna see is the end of this.” Then “Austere,” and anyone who saw this years NME’s Shockwave Award show knows this number. The high-pitched “ah-ah-aha” is background is unforgettable and infectious. The compressed guitars are in your face. Just from the first three tracks you get the idea that the Joy Formidable is not just verse with the current fads in music, but rather have an appreciation of what has been relevant over the past few years: from post-punk to shoegaze, from dream pop to Brit pop.

Also on this album is “Whirring,” which was released in May as a single. This is the kind of song that you itch to see live, because you know that the recorded version may be great but does no justice to it. (Actually, you can say that about all of the songs on the album.) The album closes with “Ostrich,” the darkest song on the album, but it is not overwhelming in an emotional sense, where it is musically. Think whirlpool: this song will musically force you into its world, whether you are resisting it or not. But that is the beauty of this album; at the end of it all, you find yourself completely addicted to the album. So I am going to keep this simple, go to the bands MySpace and decide how you want to invest.



Track Listing:
1. The Greatest Light is the Greatest Shade
2. Cradle
3. Austere
4. While the Flies
5. Whirring
6. 9669
7. The Last Drop
8. Ostrich

Keep up with the Joy Formidable at their homepage, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Here are their videos for “Cradle” and “Austere” from TheJoyFormindable YouTube Channel.



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The Joy Formidable Answers 5

Working out of London, the Joy Formidable is quite busy these days with running a club and touring, this three piece (Ritzy Bryan, Rhydian Dafydd, and Matt Thomas) are making big waves everywhere they go. With their album released earlier this year (“A Balloon Called Moaning” – 19 January 2009), the band has been playing extensively, both in clubs and festivals, including the Oxegen Festival in Ireland on 10 July. So when I reached out to the band, and Ritzy responded affirmatively that they would mull over my questions, I was ecstatic. Busy band, so of course it is an honor for me when one of my favorite current bands takes the time to Answer 5.

Photo by Toby Hudson

1. Who are your musical and nonmusical influences?

So many to mention, but I'll list a few: Arcade Fire, Van Morrison, Costello, The Flaming Lips, Tony Hancock, Guiseppe Arcimboldo, Dali, Sergio Leone, Charles Bukowski, Thomas Hardy.......

2. More so than here in the States, the UK seems to go label crazy (dream pop, dream indie, post punk revival, etc...) and I am sure your band has gotten all the labels at one time or another. But how do you define your own sound?

I don't think we're keen to surmise it in a phrase, not even in a full sentence. There's many layers to the band and that's why it's exciting, on the surface we're a loud guitar based 3 piece but that's only part of it.

3. You have given fans one of two options: to download the newest CD ("A Balloon Called Moaning") or to download it for free. Why? What have been the results?

That decision was all about embracing change and realizing that people invest in different ways. What's interesting is that most people who downloaded the record for free bought the physical format as well. I'm glad people got to hear the tracks directly from us whichever way.

Photo by Toby Hudson

4. How has "Club Joie de Vivre" impacted your own music and approach to music?

Joie de Vivre was always about supporting new bands and artists, of any genre...it was an extension of an ethic we've always held. It's vital as an artist to be inspired by a range of styles and have an open approach.

5. Considering you run your own club, any good (underground) music out there you would recommend to the blog readers?

Some of these aren't exactly underground, but Little Death are great, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, James Yuill and Dead Wolf Club.

Keep up with the Joy Formidable at their homepage, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Remember “A Balloon Called Moaning” – which you can buy or download for free via the MySpace page. Read more ...

Videos, but First a Rant

First off, in response to SDM, thank you for giving me the opportunity to write.

Volunteering to do the videos this month, I decided I would rant about music in US before getting to them.

In many ways, the pop world is the opposite and parallel world of SlowdiveMusic; the idea of the blog is look at new artists, artists who have defined genre, and “to sing the unsung heroes” of music. Between the pop divas and the glossy, sound-alike rock bands, traditionally radio has instilled and spoon-fed the minds of music listeners. As a result, these entertainers have been raking in the cash due to their high demand from the general public. Their methods of selling music with sex appeal, sampled music from the past that proved to be successful once before, and nonsense has quite the effect on the minds of their listeners. But why all of this? Why a mainstream world of pop? What is the valuable purpose and its purpose in selling? And what better than to sell than music that does not offend or music that is easily marketed? Newer and inexperienced musicians are needed in order for these companies to profit and to basically gyp them (the artists, not just the audience) off.

Meticulously, the artists and bands that are capable of catching the attention of millions are recruited every day, sort of like an army until the larger record labels eventually control the world - and you thought it was only Disney in on that game. It is a producer driven industry, where the musician is the puppet and the producer is the puppeteer. It probably isn’t that big of a plot but there is a precise selection in which artists are chosen to become famous within their first year of release and it isn’t reliant on just talent, because if talent were truly the reason why artists are chosen, then so many (Placebo, the Cure, Metric, Royksopp to name a few) would be famous all over the world.

“Pop” stands for material that is familiar and “unthreatening” to the masses, even in how sex and sexuality are sold. Yet, many underground and indie bands mention topics that are totally relevant to the lives of today but are expressed in a more paradoxical and creative way, which never sees the light of day? So is creativity meant to be hidden nowadays? It took years for the The Cures and Depeche Modes of this world to gain their stature, but nowadays it takes about four months for a sex-selling wannabe Madonnas and Nirvanas to be played continually on the radio. And it is not pure coincidence that songs such as “Lovesong” and “Friday, I’m in Love” by The Cure and “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode were the songs chosen and singled out by corporate promoters to be "pop" of America – they are the most unthreatening songs in their catalogue. It is pure corporate strategy.

The industry has coined so many labels (from gothic rock to emo), which has wrongly shunned some indie bands that certainly do not belong in this category, from being listened to or even given a chance. But then, when you think about it logically, without the wannabe divas and Nirvanas, the industry would be very different. The fact of the matter is that with a ying there is a yang: pop/underground. And in order for the music industry to survive, mass profits have to be made, and hence music companies will always default to the least common denominator: pop. Especially here in the US, a nation so large and diverse, where everyone from Washington to Florida, Arizona to Maine has to be marketed with one broad stroke (pun intended), pop allows the industry to continue to function on a monetary level, allowing other bands to be rise to the level of artists and establishing themselves as artists who will define genre, who history will remember, and who need to be “sung.”

Jarvis Cocker: “Angela” on the Rough Trade YouTube Channel: RoughTradeRecordsUK



The Twang: “Another Bus” from their YouTube Channel: TheTwangTV



Royksopp featuring Robyn: “The Girl and the Robot” from their YouTube Channel: RoyksoppMusic



Gossip: “Heavy Cross” from their YouTube Channel: GSSP09



Paloma Faith: “Stone Cold Sober” on her YouTube Channel: PalomaFaith



The Joy Formidable: “Whirring” from their YouTube Channel: TheJoyFormidable

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