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Album reviews Music

The Joy Formidable – Wolf’s Law

Rating: NNN


The breakout success of the Joy Formidable’s debut album propelled the band to bigger stages than you’d expect a Welsh shoegaze trio to reach. Playing to large crowds seems to have influenced them. On Wolf’s Law, they beef up their already bombastic rock sound, adding string arrangements, effects-laden guitars and even bigger, brighter vocal melodies courtesy of singer Ritzy Bryan.

In its 90s heyday, shoegaze was often referred to as “the scene that celebrates itself,” but Joy Formidable are aiming much higher, marrying the reverb and distortion of the sub-genre with a sound that reaches for the rafters. Subtlety isn’t the band’s forte, but they sure know how to make an ostensibly stripped-down rock song enormous. It’s no surprise they were chosen to open for Muse.

Top track: This Ladder Is Ours

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