No Joy - Ghost Blonde

No Joy are a band sitting behind walls of feedback and heavy distortion. The songs on Ghost Blonde are impressive enough, but it hardly re-writes the rule book.

The album kicks off with Mediumship, a charming and catchy 3 minute pop song with ethereal, almost whispered female vocals drifting in over the top. Next up is heedless, a charming enough 3 minute pop song with layers of fuzzed up guitars and vocals dripping with delay. Ultimately, it sounds almost exactly like track 1. That's the problem with Ghost Blonde: it is instantly forgettable. The first time I put it on to come up with notes about what I was going to say in this review, I genuinely forgot that I was listening to music, which was bizarre.

The band also wear their influences on their sleeves. My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain are all over this, and there's even a bit of daft fuzziness of early 90s Flaming Lips.

But it would be unfair to say that this album is a bland, forgettable early 90s rehash album wouldn't it? That being the case, it makes me happy to say that further through the record, there are actually a few decent tracks, such as Still, which is a roaring punk tune and the 6 and a half minute title track, which soars high above just about everything else on offer here, despite lasting about 4 minutes too long.

On Ghost Blonde then, the hits are too few and far between, and there is just way too many misses. The songs sort of drift but fail to make an impact and can be forgotten almost instantly. But then, any album with a side-boob on the cover has to be great right?

Right?

Ben Walton