No Joy – Bugland Album Review by Ryan Beardsley
We are very much living in the age of the great Shoegaze revival, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier. In a period where exciting new bands are cutting their teeth in the beloved subgenre, it’s always great to have a certified OG make a comeback and show these young bucks how it’s done. Enter No Joy.
Since 2020’s Motherhood, the band is a one woman show, and Jasamine White-Gluz is going solo once more for her first new record in five years; Bugland. Working with producer Fire-Toolz (aka Angel Marcloid), this fifth LP has been described as ‘the aural equivalent of a late-’80s i-D magazine front and back cover, with a non-problematic National Geographic hiding within.’
I’ll level with you, I have exactly no idea what that is supposed to mean, but I’ll try and translate into non hipster for you if I may; it’s a cool record.
Garbage Dream House is an ambitious opener, throwing everything at the wall in a pleasingly fuzzy kaleidoscope of electronica, rock, psychedelia and anything else you can comprehend, all glued together by White-Gluz’s achingly cool vocals.
Title track Bugland builds on the heavier rock production before it transcends into pure wall of sound Shoegaze, complete with No Joy’s trademark delicious vocal melodies, whilst
Save the Lobsters is a funky album stand out with effects driven production that has you feeling 10,000 leagues under the sea.
It’s a more polished effort than her previous work, likely as a result of the slick production sensibilities of Marcloid, but it still retains that authentic DIY ambience that reflects a record clearly obsessed and sweated over to get the hooks just right.
I hate that I forget what you look like (a song title Morrissey himself would be proud of) is comfortingly familiar, whilst at the same time challenging and clearly reaching for something elusive, is it still shoegaze? Yeah, for the most part, but it’s so damn poppy too, and all the better for it. It’s symptomatic of an LP with a tangible sense of fun and imagination, a refusal to fit into any specific box, and a desire to experiment and push the boundaries without ever losing its way.
Album closer Jelly Meadow Bright is a suitably epic meditation, bathing in the influences worn on the sleeve throughout and even taking a pitstop at NiN industrial metal because why not? My only complaint is that at 8 tracks, I wanted a little bit more but there you go. So I strongly recommend you dive headfirst into this weird and wonderful collection of tracks; I guarantee you’ll find something to like.
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