I can trace my following of No Joy right back to their beginning. Aband that I've held in high regard since their debut 7" blew me away back in mid 2010. My love grew with a couple of killer UK shows and a deafening Primavera set the following spring (I've said this before but No Joy are definitely an act to see live). I don't think the band headed to Europe with last years Negaverse EP but hopefully that will change this year with the announcement of their second LP Wait to Pleasure (due via Mexican Summer on April 22nd), and its lead track "Lunar Phobia" to stream...
The track sees the band diversify somewhat, less blast your face off skyscraper sized noise with buzz saw drone and frenetic pacing and more sun-kissed daydreams as swirling layers of gorgeous psychedelia and languid, processed beats melt your heart, more akin to the likes of 90's shoegazers Curve, where beautiful ethereal vocals guide the mellow, melodic glow. Lovely stuff indeed.
Back in 2010 I instantly succumbed to Canadian noise makers No Joy, their debut 7" introduced their whirlwind blend of 90's grunge and shoegaze, they quickly followed up with their debut full length 'Ghost Blonde' on US label Mexican Summer to much acclaim from buzzier blogs than this.
Though it was their live show which I fell for hardest, No Joy know how to put on a show. From the deafening noise of the first time I saw them at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen to the cumulation at last years Primavera festival in Barcelona I was blown away with the Montreal based duo's (foursome live) non-stop aural assault, heavy on reverb and feedback the guitars where shredded as loud as possible with Jasmine and Laura epitomising the term 'shoegaze' as their long hair covered the faces as they thrashed their guitars amongst pounding beats and thumping bass. For half an hour you were their's in a show that was relentless, adrenalin enhancing fun and noise.
A year later and we've new news, the first track from their forthcoming EP 'Negaverse' (also on Mexican Summer and due June 19th), the track, "Junior" hits hard, seemingly transferring some of the live energy and tempo into the studio with their sweet vocals wrapped in a torrent of fiery guitar and fuzz, short and sharp the track doesn't hang around, but for two and a half minutes it grabs you by the throat and commands you to listen to it, then you'll probably want to press press and do it all over again.
I was going to do a review similar to my Great Escape one for Primavera, but I decided against it instead as I'm zonked. Instead I'll go straight into it and tell you something you probably already know, that Pulp were utterly majestic. It was like they'd never gone away. I didn't know until I returned home yesterday that they played a warm-up show in France on the way to Barcelona (just how good is the second encore from that show?!) but at Primavera they well and truly ruled the stage (the same setlist besides the second encore - we just had Razzmatazz).
Jarvis was confident from the outset, opener "Do You Remember The First Time?" was a perfect start and when you include "Disco 2000" early on in the set it surely is a sign of a band who know they could pull off their 'comeback' - and boy did they! My highlights have to include "Common People" purely because the crowd went utterly bonkers and boyhood favourites "This is Hardcore" and "I Spy" were superb. I'd only seen Pulp once before this and I'm already itching to see them again. Do not miss them this summer.
A brief synopsis of the rest of the weekend goes:
The Great:
The National - Probably the second biggest crowd I saw and they were utterly brilliant, even the (50%) Spanish crowd (they don't really move much do they?!) were well up for it and the show was brilliant, highlights "Squalor Victoria", "Mr November", "Terrible Love", "England" and I really could go on and on. Not particularly sure what Sufjan Stevens added on the two tracks he came out for (he was far too quiet) but The National were incredible. What a live band they are and it's good to see them getting the reception they deserve.
No Joy - I was in a great mood after The National and in anticipation of Pulp and No Joy certainly didn't let that falter for one minute, thirty five minutes of dirty, noisy guitars, heavenly. Full marks to the drummer too, some relentless energy and heavy pounding going on. I enjoyed them in Feb when I saw them and they were so much better here, though it was a shame not to hear "No Joy". Next time. If you haven't checked out their album 'Ghost Blonde' do so.
Of Montreal - Boy do they know how to put on a show, I was expecting madness and how Of Montreal delivered. Besides the colourful show, an on-stage wrestling side show show and Catalan flag waving the important thing is that they sounded absolutely bloody brilliant and really got the sober (no beer!!) going.
Perfume Genius - An early Saturday start was worth it to see Perfume Genius in the dark and deadly silent auditori, though clearly battling nerves (especially evident when Mike was playing the acoustic guitar - at least three errors were made) the show was utterly captivating and left the large crowd speechless, he really is one talented man, his songs are just beautiful and intimate.
The Good:
Tennis - Friday started well with a lovely sunny set from Tennis, their live sounds was more expansive than on the album and it worked really well, Patrick's guitar lines and the added dimension of a live drummer especially. A perfect setting for them with the distant noise of the sea after a lovely sunny day. The last song, no idea what it was (a cover?), was a big departure from the rest and worked really nicely, I think they found themselves some new fans and I heard good things of their Saturday afternoon show the next day too..
Smoke Fairies - One of only two acts I caught at both The Great Escape and Primavera, I enjoyed them again very much, they looked pretty nervous though and much of their humour stage interaction was missing. Still when you have their stunning voices, guitar work and song-craft that hardly matters.
Islet - A prelude for the bonkers antics of Thursday were the mad-but-not-quite-Of-Montreal Welsh experimentalists Islet, a few sound issues besides their early Thursday show went down a treat. The intense percussion is certainly my favourite aspect of their set, really good.
Cults - Much like Friday and Tennis, Cults got an evening crowd doo-woping about with their cutesy 60's style pop. The sound quality could have been better and their was far, far too much hair on display but Cults are destined to be one of the acts of Summer 2011 and the set was definitely enjoyable, "Abducted" and "Go Outside" getting the best response.
Warpaint - Warpaint keep getting tighter as a unit, they looked to be having a great time in the Saturday sun, I expected them to play a little longer (the set didn't make an hour) but what we did get was, as ever, brilliant. Stella keeps on stealing the show. Next up for my Warpaint ears is Glastonbury - looking forward to it already.
Soft Moon - The Soft Moon certainly win the award for youngest dark-synth pop fan award, with a boy of around three (perhaps a band members relative?) having a great time looking on from side stage for the first half of their set. The set was thoroughly enjoyable, dark menacing synth beats which sounded enormous, a later slot would have helped them out more though.
The Disappointing:
Glasser - I was expecting something massive, her album is percussion heavy and fills the room wonderfully, perhaps it was because it wasn't the usual full setup but I found her show pretty underwhelming if I'm being honest. Yeah it was the edgy synth pop that fills 'Ring' and yes Cameron's voice at times soared through but I think it fell a bit flat (at least for me). I'd certainly give Glasser another chance in a club environment and hope it was just a bit off this once.
The Bad:
Portal - The less said about the whole system the better. Anything that leaves a countless thousand people without the capability of buying any sort of drink for five hours should have back-up plans that can be instantly rolled out without waiting till almost ten o'clock.
Prices - €9 for a 750 ml beer. Seriously? Piss-take. €4 for 2/3's of a pint. Yeah, we were getting robbed. It's unusual for the street vendors outside to be the place to go for a cheap quick beer (and even they were trying to get €1.50 for something that you could by for €0.59 if you went 200 meters up Diagonal). Food wasn't much better unless you like your burgers being charged out at €6.00 and fries at €4.00 - thankfully the security was pretty lax and smuggling in the cheaper supermarket beer wasn't all that difficult.
Transport - Barcelona - surely it's not difficult to put on a few extra buses to get people home? There were apparently some on, I saw none. Just a couple of night buses so filled to the rafters you might as well have walked home - a two mile walk - perfect at 4am, yeah.
Sound Quality - as per most festivals, the sound quality really wasn't good. ATP stage especially stood-out for being pretty torrid.
I've left off a few bands I saw, I'm not here to say things are 'crap' and given how tired I am, I probably missed someone out! Overall, knackering, the football meant I missed PJ Harvey and whilst there are certainly some issues for the organisers to work out but Friday especially made the trip worthwhile.
I'm not sure I've recovered from The Great Escape yet, in fact I definitely haven't but in just twenty four hours it's time to set course (Ash Cloud permitting) for Barcelona and Primavera Sound 2011. A pretty stunning line-up for the three day event (with pre and after show sandwiched to make it a five day long affair for the hardcore). Here are ten bands that I intend to see over the weekend split into two parts, the first five below:
Pulp San Miguel Stage: Friday May 27th, 01:45h
I'll start with the most glaringly obvious choice of the weekend, the return of the best band of the nineties, Pulp. Since Jarvis and co announced last November that they'd be returning from hiatus for a summer of shows (and then who knows) I've been as excitable as a three year old in a toy barn and now finally we are in the same calendar week as the first show...
In general I've not been a big fan of the mass reform culture we've seen the last few years, it seems a lot of groups are milking any remaining drops of the cash cow before it's too late but for Pulp I think it's going to be a totally different ball game.
What's the set-list going to be? Will we see some older gems alongside the more obvious tracks like "Babies", "Common People", "Do You Remember The First Time?" etc etc. Me, I'd like to see a couple of tracks from 'Separations' and definitely some off my favourite Pulp album 'This is Hardcore', one thing for certain it's going to be bloody awesome.
Perfume Genius Rockdelux (Auditori) Stage: Saturday 28th May, 16:00h
I'm looking forward to finally seeing Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius live for the first time, he played in London last week but I decided to see Planningtorock (which was pretty great as you'd expect) so had to miss out, it would have been a much gut-wrenching clash if it wasn't for this early show in the seated Auditori which has the potential to be one of the most magical, sublime shows of the entire weekend.
'Learning' is certainly one of the best albums of 2010 its hauntingly beautiful and intimate nature in a quiet arena should translate into a show that's something a little bit special.
No Joy Jägermeister Vice Stage: Friday 27th May, 23:00h
No Joy were absolutely brilliant when I saw them at Hoxton Bar & Grill back in February, half an hours worth of a deafening shoegaze wall of sound that was absolutely lovely on my ears.
On their debut record 'Ghost Blonde' the vocal is low in the mix and live it's the same with the two girls (on the live stage backed by two blokes on drums and bass who both add perfectly to the overall ambience) preferring to rock out their guitars, long hair covering their faces, it was frenetic and an absolute joy (yeah I know) full of fuzzy, pounding noise. I've frequently mentioned how much I love their self-titled track "No Joy" and I'm certainly going to be there to hear it again.
Glasser
Pitchfork Stage: Thursday 26th May, 21:45h
I was meant to have a date with Cameron Mesirow a while back but in the end I went to see TJF (again), meaning that this will be my first experience of a live Glasser show and I'm full of anticipation about finally breaking that duck.
Last years 'Ring' put Glasser on most peoples lips with its weaving cocktail of percussion heavy throbbing electronica, with Cameron's gorgeous vocals and a healthy dose of tribal chants and hand-claps it was a simply stunning debut and if the life show is any where near as expansive as the album, then it's going to be simply divine.
Of Montreal San Miguel Stage: Thursday 26th May, 20:00h
I first saw Of Montreal at Cargo probably three years ago and then later supporting Franz Ferdinand and their weird hallucinogenic psychedelic live spectacle completely blew FF out of the water, their prolific output has been a bit lost on me recently but I still absolutely love their 'Hissing Fauna....' LP and their live show is a 100% mind-boggling enjoyment guarantee.
Expect grand stage designs, epic costumes, Kevin Barnes to spend at least two songs in the crowd and for it get even more random than you could possibly envisage.
The year is fast running out, after a great year for music the last few months don't have that many releases I'm anticipating.
However, one that I very much am is 'Ghost Blonde' by No Joy - I posted the details about that recently.
For us UK folks, we now have a release of the now sold out debut 7" No Joy / No Summer - it's frankly perfect and a guarantee amongst my end of year list.
Limited to 300 copies - get it from Sexbeat for just £3.00. Bargain.
Mexican Summer have some fine artists on their roster including Best Coast, Tamaryn, Dunes and the latest to come to my attention No Joy.
I posted about their amazing first 7" No Joy / No Summer a while back. No Joy will be in my tracks of the year. fuzzy vocals and a thumping frenzy of feedback. It's simply superb.
Thus my hopes for the LP are high, we got our first snippet of it today. Listen to "Heedless" below:
I finally got hold of the No Joy debut 7" today.
I'd been meaning to order it before but I tend to take advantage of Rough Trade's free postage on orders over £40, thus being a tightarse, I waited until I had a batch of things to purchase...
I've been listening to the tracks for a while now, both songs are great. Full of Psychedelic / Shoegaze sounds. No Joy is the song that has me jumping up and down the most of the two - layer upon layer of fuzzy vocals and a thumping frenzy of shredding and feedback. Love it. No Summer slightly more melodic with hushed vocals but with a thunderbolt of an ending. Joyous.
An album is due on Mexican Summer soon-ish. Promising indeed. Very promising, really cannot wait to hear more.
Listen to it:
