No Joy are sick of being pigeonholed. Throughout their seven-year career they have been plagued by all manner of labels; shoegaze, dream pop, indie rock, and so on. While moments of their back catalogue justify such terms, particularly in their earlier releases, they have far more to offer than just being tagged to one genre. Last years full-length, ‘More Faithful’, saw the Canadian band at their most direct, and was a hail of white noise. They now open a new chapter with ‘Drool Sucker’, which is the first in a series of EP’s they plan to release.
The three tracks on this EP, which is their first release on Topshelf Records, are undoubtedly refined rock songs. Yes, they are soaked in reverb, but with the driving, post punk riffs of ‘Thorn In Garlands Side’, you wont find No Joy staring at their feet. The searing fuzz is broken up by lush and lucid passages, but there is no room for dreamy haze. Even vocalist Jasmine White-Gluz is less ethereal than before, exploring here range through ‘XO (Adams Getting Married)’, reaching new heights over gorgeous, bright guitar lines.
With the rapid pace of the tracks on ‘Drool Sucker’, it barely gives you a chance to fully digest it in one listen. Even as ‘Theme Song’ starts in a slow burning, Cocteau Twins-esque manner, it expands before you know what has hit you, and in the blink of an eye, its over. The best thing you can do is repeat the EP several times, and get lost in the tracks over and over again.
What No Joy are starting with ‘Drool Sucker’ remains to be seen, but the three tracks on this EP leave you wanting more. With this being some of their most accomplished, and stand out work to date, it is an exciting time to be a No Joy fan, and how far they will go to prove a point that they cannot be defined will make for an interesting year. Lets hope they don’t leave it to long to show us what’s next.
GLEN BUSHELL