A couple of years ago at the Camden Rock Festival, a few Moshville Times colleagues and I attended. One comrade mentioned an EP she reviewed by Brighton trio Sick Joy, and encouraged us that these guys should be the band we start the day off with at this all-day musical festival. I went along, as I always do what I’m told. We entered the stables and the moment they hit the first chord, they had me, I am now a fan. The next day I ordered their EP, Amateurs. Sick Joy entered the grunge alternative revival. I’m wary of a band labelled with the grunge moniker.
Sick Joy’s latest release is a four-track EP called Them Days, via Say Something records. The first of the four tunes, “Playing Dead” an absolute killer with riffs that remind me of L7 of late 90s rock. Mykl’s gripping vocals have an impending doom feel, his voice is keeping the menace of Nirvana alive.
Oh man, “Shoot Your Lover” is a garage, grunge punk throwback, everything about this tune has me wanting to head to the early 90s, grow my hair, and sit at the bar drinking snakebite and black, moaning about music that isn’t real because it isn’t like this.
Sick Joy is intensively fun in a dark sense. As “Dirty Water” begins I couldn’t quite put my finger on the taste I had in my mouth, then it hit me, this is the sound Silverchair wanted to make. This bass is pure melancholic happiness moulded with a catchy chorus and dirty riffs. This is beauty, which is what many of us have been waiting for.
Latest release “Vibe Sucker” is the last tune on Them Days, and it’s given me butterflies in my stomach. I have no idea what is going on but the tune has swagger. Did I tell you I’m a fan of this band? Everything about these four tunes is what I want my music to be: full-on angst, swagger, melancholy and a vocal going around in my head, living there rent-free……Check out the video below.
This trio of Mykl, Danny and Martyn are growing into a slick rock band who have been evolving in the two years since seeing them open the Camden Rock festival. I hope their dirty, grunge sound heads them into a bright future. It will be bright, the musical future is sick joy… can I patent that?
Sick Joy: official | facebook | twitter
