Joy of Sex

Apparently the name 'Joy of Sex' is a reference to a book. Because I'm uncultured (and probably a little thick), I didn't know that so for a while I just thought that it was a dreadful band name plucked from the air. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

If Joy Of Sex had just plucked their name from the air, then they'd have probably meant it sarcastically - they seem to like a little bit of sarcasm and tongue in cheek fun in their music and lyrics. Heck, maybe they are uncultured like me and do mean it sarcastically. Who knows?

Broadly post-punk (what isn't?), Joy Of Sex are based in Cardiff and sit alongside comfortably with much of the scene there today. I'm not too sure if they are currently a three-piece or are back down to two, minus a drummer. Many of their songs have a relatively basic beat yet are often unusual in structure. Guitar, bass, drums, drum machine, boy-girl (man-woman) vocals and the odd moment of synth interact effectively, sometimes along Art Brut lines, with relatively relaxed songs often breaking into more hectic moments, and vocals jumping from spoken word to shriek with little warning. Both male and females vocals rally, harmonise, and sit alone effectively; bass plods along nicely; guitar is both plucked gently and riffed violently; drums snare-roll and bass drum thuds with backing clicking drum machine. I especially like the lyric "Your new religion is science-fiction just like your old one," and the delivery makes them all the better.

The band have a free acoustic recording session (recorded back in April for BBC Bristol) for download from their blog, and from the same blog you can listen to or purchase a 4-track EP recorded a while back, or listen to a brand new track posted on their MySpace today. They also release a split single in September with Cardiff-based Gindrinker, so get your hands on that when it's available. Listen to the pleasant "Weather Controller" below.

Joy Of Sex - Weather Controller (Radio Edit)