Send "The Joy Formidable " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 For the Joy Formidable, bigger most certainly is better. The London-by-way-of-Wales outfit makes music that feels bred for the arena, packing each driving track with huge washes of guitar and giant swarms of buzzing bass. This despite the fact that half the band's debut mini-LP, A Balloon Called Moaning, was recorded in a bedroom. If nothing else, the album is proof that you don't need a ton of production gloss to create a sound that's this anthemic and emotive.On almost every track here, you get that moment of boisterous clarity-- usually in the form of some skyward-shooting chorus-- that feels affirming and perfectly in-line with UK arena rock. But these fist-pumping jolts are mixed in with prickly goth textures and doses of melodic post-punk, which serve as a welcome contrast. And most of these big moments get over without the benefit of being outwardly catchy, which is both impressive and occasionally worrying. Opener "The Greatest Light Is the Greatest Shade" and stunning highlight "The Last Drop" are two exceptions, but elsewhere the band's emphasis is on making emotional contact rather than trying to wiggle a hook into your head....full text |
| Thelineofbestfit |
| A Balloon Called Moaning is the debut album from Welsh three-piece The Joy Formidable, recent (and riotous) TLOBF gig headliners, and hotly tipped new young band-on-the-rise. Lots of elements can very quickly be identified that signpost this as taking the listener into shoegaze territory. Witness the ear-shredding high guitar scree that features on previous single ‘Cradle’ and – most prominently – the intro to ‘While The Flies’; or the way that the sounds are layered up resulting in a lovely haze of noise on most tracks (acoustic ‘Austere’ being a partial exception). Production is expertly managed so that individual sounds, instruments and vocals can still be distinguished though: this is a haze, as opposed to a “mush” of sound (these *are* technical terms, reader – I do hope you’re taking notes…). The principal vocal sitting atop this lovely musical confection is, for the main part, that of the fabulously-named Ritzy Bryan, with backing duties fulfilled by her real-life boyfriend, bassist Rhydian Dafydd (yup: Welsh). Their voices add a significant dollop of sweetness to the mix, nicely offsetting the other noises, and Bryan’s made me think, in places, of Kim Deal (in particular in ‘The Last Drop’) or Tanya Donnelly. On a couple of tracks they do a nice shared, or call-and-response type vocal (‘9669′, ‘While The Flies’), and these rank amongst the album’s highlights. Much use is made of “oohs” and “aah”, on nearly every track bar ‘Whirring’, ‘The Last Drop’ and ‘Ostrich’ – hence the “Moaning” in the album title, perhaps? – which leads me, in the absence of very many clearly audible lyrics, to hazard a guess that this is a sexylove themed album. Certainly ‘While The Flies’ and ‘9669′ sounds like romantic ballads, while the breathy fluttery vocals on tracks like ‘Ostrich’ and ‘Austere’ would seem to indicate more erotic intentions....full text |
| Comfortcomes |
| The Joy Formidable have finally released their debut mini album and we can all finally stop listening to “Cradle” on on-repeat as we now have 7 more tracks to obsess over. The releases were limited to 500 copies which, is a same as this going to sell out fast as this is a special record. The band manages to show a lot of their range in just the first three songs. “The Greatest Light Is The Greatest Shade” flexes their epic muscles. The track is a big, noisy and dense and it is what post-rock would sound like if they ever went pop. The perfect marriage of beautiful noises and vocals. Then you are treated to the delightful pop musings of “Cradle.” There is something about this track that no matter how many times you listen it still resonates with you. I must have listened to this track every day for the last month and half and I still adore it. Just a word of warning it is that catchy. “Austere” starts off with that sultry bass and that background howling that just lures you in for the adventure. “9669” is the standard acoustic track but it elevates it to another level. The tension between Ritzy and Rhydian’s vocals are worth the price of admission alone but the song comes out very moody and moving. For a young band these tracks have a nice touch of polish to them. They are wise beyond their years and this record will make The Joy Formidable open up a lot of noises this year....full text |
The Joy Formidable lyrics
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