The Joy Formidable – Wolf’s Law

The Joy Formidable are an English Rock band, who made some waves back in 2011 with their debut LP The Big Roar. That album had some shoegaze/dream pop influences with the wall of sound guitars and Ritzy’s clean and bright vocals. Despite that, they still maintained a distinctly modern alt-rock sound. Unlike other shoegazing bands like My Bloody Valentine, there was less experimentation and bizarreness to Joy Formidable’s sound. They had big, meaty riffs and catchy hooks.

Wolf’s Law, however, does not capture what The Big Roar had going for it. The guitar riffs are overly sugar-y and not as hard-hitting. Ritzy Bryan’s excessively clean vocals sound too shiny for a rock band. Even the weird effects such as the quack-esque wah-wah on “Cholla” don’t make up for this album’s lack of memorability. I give this album a 5/10

[spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/3iUAcessIfySaMSYzrhisw]