Review Summary: A newfound sense of abstraction
In all honesty, I had kind of forgotten about No Joy. While this can hardly be considered surprising, with
Motherhood being the band’s first studio album in five years, I still felt kind of bad. They were so good… right? When trying to remember what
Wait to Pleasure and
More Faithful sound like, words such as ‘noisy’, ‘experimental’ and ‘ethereal’ came to mind, confirmed by a quick Google search of the projects. Upon relistening, however, both records proved to be little more than fuzzy alternative rock affairs, definitely enjoyable but perhaps not as special as I recalled. Thankfully, this new album seems to take these preconceptions and actually deliver on them, as if the band is reinventing themselves based on their online shadow body that had formed in the large gap between records. Oh, and yeah, it’s really damn good.
Opener ‘Birthmark’ may not sound like a traditional first track, but it’s as good a song as any to showcase No Joy’s newfound sense of abstraction. Distorted guitars are still present, yet more subdued in favour of off-kilter percussion and a remarkably effective amount of vocal layers. Together, these elements manage to sustain the ethereal qualities of the band’s previous output, while diving headfirst into experimental territory. Much like most of its parent album, ‘Birthmark’ manages to be deceptively catchy. Even though the song’s lyrics are barely distinguishable, the differentiating chorus lyrics
‘He’s the one’,
‘Be the one’ and
‘She’s the one’ consistently and excellently stand out.
This impressive feat of being both highly abstract and catchy is
Motherhood’s maintained throughout and undoubtedly the record’s biggest accomplishment. Whether it’s Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy fame providing harsh vocals on the oddly upbeat ‘Dream Rats’ without sounding out of place or the magnificent, Tamaryn-esque beat on ‘Ageless’, there are plenty of standout moments to be found. Yet, ‘Four’ provides the best and most fully realised summary of what
Motherhood truly encompasses. The multifaceted track introduces itself with a minute of static, before a strange post-punk influenced section allows for the repeated lyrics of
‘Just keep calling me baby’ to work its way into the listener’s head. Once ‘Four’ has established its memorability through this, it opts for a minute-long outro of heavy, fuzzy hardcore instrumentation as if attempting to burn down whatever came before. It’s an absolute mess, but a carefully constructed and highly enjoyable one at that.
However, the back half of
Motherhood sees No Joy dialing back this explicit abstraction a fair bit. Seemingly attempting to reel listeners in (or filter them out) during the record’s first portion, later songs such as ‘Fish’ and ‘Happy Bleeding’ still contain plenty of odd synthesizers and vocal layers to satisfy any experimental itches. Yet, this part of the record primarily functions as concrete proof that the band are excellent songwriters. The melodies are crystal clear, the vocals are heavenly; simply put, it’s dream pop perfection with some quirky qualities. Closing cuts ‘Primal Curse’ and ‘Kidder’ showcase this brilliantly by offsetting a competent skeleton of fuzzy indie with unnerving drum patterns and odd electronic quips. It’s as pleasant as it is intriguing, maintaining and demonstrating No Joy’s impressive dual approach to crafting memorable, subtly strange songs.
While this contrast between the record’s two halves is somewhat striking and slightly disappointing due to the sheer excellence of the former’s abstract leanings, it does make
Motherhood a more easily digestible project. It’s without a doubt No Joy’s most complete and effective album to date, succeeding through its full materialisation of the band’s more creative leanings. Masterfully avoiding the sacrifice of accessibility, the Canadians are bound for more amazing things if they manage to stay the course and expand even further upon the highly experimental and enjoyable nature of this album.
