Review Summary: A postcard from somewhere warm.
Winter in Wisconsin comes in swiftly and brutally. Within two weeks, temperature change drastically, and everyone begrudgingly drags out their warm clothing and prepares for a season of shoveling driveways and driving with extra caution. Much of the beauty that other residents of states far from this one always associate with these winters is always taken for granted, usually just after a couple of weeks of living in the conditions.
Little Joy acts, in and of itself, as a postcard. Wrapped in a very subtle lo-fi buzz, this album throughout its runtime evokes somewhere warm, yet too far away. There isn't much aspiration evident here, but that is not a detraction on the album; rather, it helps present itself as an album that is, above all else,
comfortable. This is one of the most laid-back albums you will ever hear, from the soft ukulele touches interlacing with an equally soft vocal melody from Binki Shapiro on "Unattainable", to the bounce of "How to Hang a Warhol", to the Strokes-lite guitars on "Keep Me In Mind." Most lyrics touch on love, but even when the lyrics turn towards heartbreak, they remain sweet and gentle.
No,
Little Joy is not revelatory in its songcrafting. It doesn't have too much ambition, and it doesn't try to make you think. But what this album tries to be, which is nothing more than a simple testament to love and warm weather, it does perfectly.
