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Joanna Gruesome

Joanna Gruesome
‘Secret Surprise’
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joanna-gruesomeSometimes a track comes along and just smacks you right in the face. ‘Secret Surprise’ from Cardiff/London outfit Joanna Gruesome does just that. It’s the first cut from their forthcoming album Weird Sister which will be coming out through the excellent Fortuna Pop! label (Allo Darlin’, Evans The Death, Shrag) on September 16th – if this track is representative of the rest of their debut then colour us very excited indeed.

Like The Pixies gone punk, ‘Secret Surprise’ is a supercharged, lo-fi burst of pure energy. The Buzzcocks meets C86 meets Riot Grrrl sound permeating through could easily sound dated, but there’s something fresh (maybe even timeless) that makes their scuzzy, fuzzy sound extremely exciting.

It’s the kind of track that you can imagine making teenagers want to pick up the guitar and give it a go themselves, which is exactly the sort of ethic a band like Joanna Gruesome instil. JoGru, as well as the bands they regularly shares stages with such as Playlounge, Bird Skulls and Best Friends, bring an energy which is at odds with many new bands filling the dive venues of East London. There’s no feeling that these guys do it with any ambition of filling phone network sponsored venues or getting their mugs on the front of any weekly music mags. As trite and clichéd as it may sound, it’s clearly about the music and the fun of playing. It’s just real.

They tour pretty relentlessly so there’s no excuse not to scope them out this summer.

Augustus Groove