Los Angeles – Up until about the mid-2000’s, bands that fell under the categorization of “indie pop” typically had to spend years on the road while releasing barely-noticed records in hopes that eventually they would be able to quit their day jobs and make music their full-time gig. The internet changed all that, with blogs hyping bands that sometimes had less than a handful of songs; the examples are plentiful. Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah!, Wavves, Unknown Mortal Orchestra are just a few that immediately spring to mind. The Rochester, NY-based Joywave tend to fall into that camp, though that should not discount the amount of work the band has put into reaching this level of underground “stardom”.
About midway through his band’s Tuesday night set at West Hollywood’s famed Troubadour nightclub, lead singer Daniel Armbruster could not help but marvel at his meteoric rise: “Now my face is plastered all over benches!”. Just a few years ago, Joywave’s first proper studio effort, an EP known as Koda Vista, was released to relative indifference from the music media. Fast forward three years, a smash single collaboration on Big Data’s “Dangerous”, a European tour with Brandon Flowers of The Killers, a North American tour in support of Bleachers, and suddenly the band is headlining and selling out the Troubadour. Okay so it’s not the biggest venue in the world, but as far as prestige goes that is a tough accomplishment to top.
Instead of acting like rock stars about their newfound fame, the band was as interactive with the crowd as a starry-eyed opener playing their fifth show would be. Armbruster commanded the audience in a manner that was a bit unexpected for the ultra-sugary pop rock that band churned out. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise – he has the appearance of an ex-hardcore kid-gone-pop, sporting a trendy thin mustache, dark rimmed glasses, skinny black jeans, and floppy mid-length hair. In many ways he was like a young Milo Aukerman on-stage, flailing around, pumping his chest at intense moments, and generally connecting with the audience members.
The audience demographics spoke to the band’s universally-appealing sound. Most of the fans that crowded around the front of the stage were decidedly lacking in those orange 21+ wristbands that are so ubiquitous at all-ages shows. Meanwhile, the back end of the crowd consisted of a diverse range of ages, with a surprising number of 35-40+ year old audience members that looked like they barely managed to get a night away from the kids. Pop music of the sort Armbruster, Sean Donnelly, Paul Brenner, Joseph Morinelli, and Benjamin Bailey produce is great because it appeals to music fans of all ages. While Joywave’s sound may ride today’s popular current in some respects, there is timelessness to many of their songs – sounding like they could easily come from the 90’s, 00’s, and even 80’s.
The band had a strong sense of aesthetics, with stylized fonts on their gear boxes and a matching backdrop that read “Why Be Credible When You Can Be Incredible?” It’s not fully clear what that means, but the quintet did their very best to be incredible. Set opener “Destruction” began with a sample from Fantasia, continuing the theme set by the pre-set house music – mostly score from that Fantasia’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” scene. Unsurprisingly, the crunchy distorted guitars and harsh backing keyboards of “Destruction” made for an impressive opening. What is surprising is that what works as the perfect intro to the band’s set is in fact placed about mid-way through the track list of their debut LP, How Do You Feel Now?.
Most of the set consisted of songs from How Do You Feel Now?, which peaked at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart after its April 2015 release. The largest crowd response was for singles “Tongues” and “Somebody New”, although “Now” easily elicited the highest volume of shrill screams when it began. That is no doubt because of the earworm that is that slowly-bending guitar lead that guides the song through the verses. As a shout-out to longtime fans, the band also played back-to-back older songs, a nice treat for those that have followed the band for years.
Joywave marches on with their “World Tour USA 2015” that will take them east across the Mountain West and Great Lakes region. They then traverse the East Coast, hitting the major cities and their hometown of Rochester, NY before concluding the tour in NYC at the Bowery Ballroom.
To find more information on Joywave and tickets, check out the band’s Facebook page.
Photo Credit: Matt Matasci
Matt Matasci
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