This London Indie-Rock five piece is back again with more fantastic rock & roll music. Easy to listen, cheerful and funky, “Joy Control” is a perfect comeback by the critically acclaimed British band Modern Guilt.
After the release of their very much appreciated EP: “You’re Welcome“, Modern Guilt returns with a brand new single that picks up just where they left. As sophisticated as ever, these guys are building a sound and style of their own that keeps nourishing our ears and warming our hearts. It comes with a pretty cool visualizer too!
“Joy Control” is a song that reminds me very much of that Indie, “easy rock sound” of bands like The Strokes, but is in fact inspired by the sounds of Motown and the New Wave scene of 1970’s New York City. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals; that’s really all they need to make a great track and I think is thanks to the chemistry these three have between them.
Starting right off the bat with a classic drum beat and the low roar of the overdriven, reverb drenched guitars; followed by the wailing, anticipating notes of the bass; the track instantly turns into an all time favorite with its classic sound and powerful delivery.
A song about watching someone who could’ve been great choosing not to, and the feelings that this evokes. Frustration, most of all! “Joy Control” has a retro sound but a modern spirit. I guess I should’ve known! (you know, ’cause they have “Modern” in their name…) But the energy and the wit in the composition are no less innovative than their last EP and the anthemic vibe of it makes this single a very entertaining joy-ride.
I had an awesome Q&A with Scott (drums) and Jaz (lead vocals/guitar) about their influences, the story behind the song, and their plans for the future. You can read it right here, only in Less Than 1000!:
1.- I feel this song has a very The Strokes vibe and feeling to it, is it in any way slightly inspired by them?
SCOTT – Nice one, thank you, The Strokes are one of my favorite bands so it’s great to hear
any comparisons like that. I think as well it’s got a bit of a Velvet Underground / Stooges / Iggy Pop meets Motown feel.
When we were writing, it was all about building layers and textures by adding instruments over a chord loop, then once we got the chorus it became such a bright and uplifting feeling of a track, much like the classic Motown songs do. And that’s us really, mixing the angular guitars with classic soulful sounds.
JAZ – It was more moved by Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, and growing up in London as The Strokes came up, it’s pretty hard to not be influenced by them somewhere along the line.
2.- Can you please tell us a bit more about the song’s title? What is the meaning behind “Joy Control”?
JAZ – The title was hacked together from Joy Division and their biographical film ‘Control’ and as with a lot of the way I write, contains multitudes. I’m obsessed with feeling good, so I want to control the Joy I feel.
3.- The lyrics, I believe, are very well written and obviously hold a lot of story inside them. Would you care to tell us a bit more about the story that surrounds them?
JAZ – Firstly thank you, the story has a few different parts to it, one is the note to self, fear of never amounting to anything, fear of fraudulence and it’s also a bit of a letter to someone who isn’t around to read it anymore, someone who was a bit of a hot knife through butter kinda guy, a Moses by the beach, someone who I was dumbstruck by their talent and productivity and they abandoned themselves, the obsessive introspection pulled them down. So the song is about the joint understanding of destructively trying to control feeling, like bad street magicians, and the fear of who you were going to become.
4.- After this single release is it safe to think that you’re preparing for another EP release?
JAZ – We are prepping for another EP release down the line, we’ve got some tracks being
polished off now and some exciting new stuff in the works.
SCOTT – We’ll likely release another single first after ‘Joy Control’ though.
5.- Have you got any upcoming gigs that you’d like to tell us about?
SCOTT – Yeah, we’ve played a few great shows recently – for Independent Venue Week, and
another at Camden’s famous The Hawley Arms. Next up, we’re looking forward to playing with The Howlers at The Waiting Room in Stoke Newington, London on April 6th, and we’ll be able to announce some more live dates soon too 😉 Tickets link
6.- Anything else you’d like to add:
JAZ – Thank you for this interview, I don’t often talk about what makes me write.
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