Album Review: No Joy - Wait To Pleasure

There's only so much variation in the shoegazing scene. No Joy's 2010 debut record, Ghost Blonde, was a wholly enjoyable entrant into the crowded ring of so-called 'nugazers' (modern shoegaze groups who found MBV 15-20 years too late), but it hardly pushed barriers. It's a surprise then (for several reasons), that their second effort, Wait To Pleasure, plays with established sounds in such brilliant ways.

Opener, E, shuffles into life with throbbing bass and ethereal vocals behind layers of fuzz; it's by the numbers shoegaze until its last minute when the fuzz gets turned up and up, dominating the track and boiling over as the only sound present. The song almost serves as a manifesto for the album, a loving embrace of the lush My Bloody Valentine/Ride fuzzy pop, with a vulgar twist of 2013 passion.

There're no dud tracks on this brisk, 35-minute record, but pensive Slug Night, showing off fascinating explorations of dynamics, and a particularly fuzzed-out and danceable Ignored Pets stand out as highlights and potential modern classics of the genre.

In a year when My Bloody Valentine releases a new record, it's hard to stand out as a shoegaze group, but if there's any justice No Joy will. Comparisons to existing classics are unavoidable and totally warranted, but Wait To Pleasure is indeed its own beast. No Joy have shown that they're a solid head above their contemporaries with this release, which will prove to be essential to the genre's fans and might just win over the unconverted.