The term “shoegaze” has become something of a cliché in recent years – evoking the late 80’s frizzy ‘fros of The Jesus and Mary Chain boys or the disinterested stares of the then-youthful My Bloody Valentine gang, “shoegaze” just doesn’t kick the same punch in 2015 as it did in 1991. Perhaps this stigma is why No Joy’s newest release, More Faithful, offers such a welcome respite from the usual creative mimicry of an era almost thirty years passed.
Alternating between the humid wilderness of Costa Rica and the urban rush of Brooklyn to record, the process of creating More Faithful was just as disorienting as the album that eventually culminated from it. “Everything New” and “Moon in my Mouth” hint at a sense of purity within the overwhelming static dissonance, evoking the calm of the tropics that played such a large part in the LP’s production. Expansive spaces and Laura Lloyd’s calculated guitar chords contrast against the din, revealing a complexity sorely lacking on No Joy’s previous releases. Though Jazamine White-Glutz’s silky smooth vocals have inevitably remained a constant on 2010’s Ghost Blonde and 2013’s Wait To Pleasure, they take on a fresh semblance within the riffs on the band’s most recent record, working in alliance with Lloyd’s guitar instead of against it.
More Faithful is undeniably characterized by its deliciously conflicting qualities– from claustrophobic fuzz on “Remember Nothing” to liberated crystal melodies on “Bolas”. It’s not that the band’s abandoned their static-punk roots for palatable pop; they’ve merely discovered a way to intertwine the storm with the eye – as if Lloyd and White-Glutz purposely aimed to bring listeners back to Earth, if only to show them just how good it feels to float.
Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Recommended Tracks: “Everything New”, “Moon in my Mouth”, “Judith”
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