No Joy / Sonic Boom - "No Joy / Sonic Boom"

No Joy for one, are a band that really caught me off guard.  I knew about them for a few years, knowing their style and influences.  But I hadn't sat through an entire album of theirs until 2013's "Wait To Pleasure".  And honestly, I was really blown away by it.  I loved the intense Shoegaze passages and Noise Rock riffs of course.  But there was so much more to it.  For one, there was a real sense of mystery to No Joy, and underneath all the reverb and noise, there was almost a vintage Pop band ready to break free.  This album was a real winner for me.  The next time I stumbled across No Joy was with 2015's "More Faithful".  This was a little dreamier of an album overall, and it reminded me a whole lot of what Dum Dum Girls were doing at the time. The dreamier tracks were OK at best.  But when they were able to fuse that with some more Shoegaze elements, like they did on "Burial In Twos", things got special and quick.  But at the end of the day, I was still much more attracted to some of the more straightforward tunes like "Hollywood Teeth" and "Corpo Daemon".  So No Joy are back after a few EP's and such, this time alongside producer Sonic Boom.  But uhh, let me tell you, I'm really not into these opening singles.  Let's chat about this new project, shall we?

This EP starts off with "Obsession", and right off the bat, I'm actually really into a lot of the production here.  Sonic Boom really does a great job of making this massive, hulking sound.  But why do I feel like  Jasamine White-Gluz of No Joy sounds awkward as hell?  I mean, it's not like she's going for some radically different vocal style here.  But the booming beat here is just so much more interesting than her fluttering vocals.  Like, even the ghostly backing vocals are really doing a whole lot more for me.  This is a weird track, fusing Dance, Spacey Indie Pop, and even some industrial beats.  I mean, from a production standpoint, all around this track is commendable.  But I just feel like I would have been so much more into this as a standalone Sonic Boom track.  But as "Obsession" rolls on to NEARLY ELEVEN MINUTES, it's just confusing.  This would have been a decent 3-minute experiment, but this is just plain boring. As this EP rolls on with "Slorb", I actually do continue to seriously love a lot of the production here.  The atmosphere on this track is intense.  But God, Jasamine still sounds like a fish out of the water without her usual guitar chords and Shoegaze sound.  Not to mention, why the hell is this track so boring?  Like, usually, I'm down to at least sit back and chill to a track like this.  But this track is putting me to sleep, this is far from what I signed up for.   Then we have "Triangle Probably", and of all the tracks here at the very least I can sort of remember elements of this.  I do like the throwback, 80's style production, and the massive beat that follows.  This one once again is really haunting and from a production stance really well done.  I can't drive this home enough, I would have totally been into this as a Sonic Boom project.  But Jasamine pops in, who I usually enjoy quite a bit, but she seriously ruins everything on this track.  Now, to be honest, "Teenage Panic" starts off as a decent crossover between the two artists.  Here, I feel like Jasamine isn't bringing anything down.  The wild production and vocal effects are a really nice touch as well, and if they've been going for "futuristic pop" this entire time, this is the closest they've gotten. Like, there's certainly an edge to a lot of the material here, but this is the first track that's come off genuinely experimental.  But of course, the two completely overdue.  This would have been a seriously great 3-minute experimental Pop tune.  But then we get the last few minutes of noise and sound collages, which yes, gets very annoying.


Rating: 5.9/10

Genre: A desperate attempt to be edgy Pop music / Boring-Ass Synth Pop

Overall Thoughts:  Now, I've been a fan of No Joy's work in the past, and I was actually really curious about where they were going to take this EP with Sonic Boom.  Sadly, this 4 track EP is some of the most incredibly safe and quite frankly boring Synth Pop I've heard in ages. I give Sonic Boom credit because he did wonders with the production of this EP.  His beats are often refreshing and the atmospheres he brings to the table are legitimately cool.  Sadly, it's Jasamine White-Gluz who brings these recordings down, who sounds absolutely lost without Guitars ad a Shoegaze base.  This EP is hard to sit through altogether.