Formed by longtime friends Daniel M. and Matt S., Joy began as an acoustic duet in 2002. Their self-titled debut, a half-hour of folky 4-track twangling, offers subtle compositions that warble beneath idiosyncratic vocals—and fits comfortably into the Shrimper Records catalog.
Hatred and Grief, Joy’s self-released sophomore effort, captures the band (at this point a quartet including guitarist Ariel Rabinovic and drummer Matt Dodge) dabbling in country music and higher fidelity. Integrating 8-track and studio recordings, it delivers a more complex sound without compromising the DIY spirit of the band’s earlier work.
Devil’s Blues was recorded digitally (mostly) in the band’s basement rehearsal space and at New Alliance East (Boston, MA), Shrimper’s proper follow-up to Joy finds the band experimenting with instrumentation and lyrical themes. The result is a more focused, more dynamic album than the previous two.
In 2006, The band worked with director Jonathan Bekemeier (whose resume includes music videos for the Pixies and Buffalo Tom) on a video for the third track off Devil’s Blues, “Tiger’s Paws", the results of which can be seen a little further down the page.
After the departure of elec. guitarist Ariel Rabinovic, the band released the "Sailing Days" EP, featuring the re-adaptation of a couple of songs from it's previous two Shrimper releases ("Tiger's Paws", "Sex") as well as a few new songs and interludes. The stripped down 3-piece line-up for this album was augmented by Joey Chang - cello and Eric Provonsil - mandolin (Ariel Rabinovic does appear playing banjo on the song "Blue Light" and on one of the musical interludes).
The band is currently on hiatus from live performance and is in the process of writing songs for future recording projects. In the meantime, Matt Savage and Matt Dodge are currently collaborating together in a yet-to-be-named project and should have an album out soon with live shows to follow. Dan Madri is currently recording and playing in the guitar/drum duo Gondoliers.
To date, Joy has shared the stage with Lou Barlow, Daniel Johnston, Holopaw, the Fruit Bats, Dr. Dog, and Scout Niblett.
"Sex" from Sailing Days just popped up on my Pandora radio station. Very cool. I indicated that "I liked it" so that it will play again. How are you guys? Anything new? Want to play Pittsburgh?
hey, guys. i just wanted to check in and hear how things are. drop me a line if you get a chance. you're always welcome here in pittsburgh! p.s. do you guys have my cd? if not, i'll drop some in the mail.
We stumbled on to your space a couple of weeks ago. Your choice of covers is fantastic, and your original is just that, original. Nice to see some creativity in music these days.
bonjour JOY,
i discovered "Devil's blues" last year, great music , i enjoy!
hope everything is ok and 1001 thanks for your friendship
best wishes and love from France
Ww
As you might have seen I wrote about you a few days ago.
The post is fully viewable
here. It's in italian but I've been translating it for you, so check your inbox to read it.
i've been a shrimp-o-holic since back in the days. yet still i was blown away when i first heard you. i really liked your first album, and you're sure keeping up the good work on the latest one!
hey guys, thanks so much for letting me be part of your cd release show, i was really flattered. hope we get to play together again soon. lovely picture by the way, the lights are so pretty...
Nice to hear from you, I've had some of your stuff for some time and like it very much. Simple in structure but great in depth, it's a distinctive and stirring sound. Thank you.
