The New York band explore life, loss and growing up on their engrossing and creative debut album
Packed full of rousing alternative rock appeal and the commanding allure of Samantha Joy Pearlman’s vocals, Joy and the Wildfire are a band who’s distinctive appeal and wealth of creativity and experience has singled them out as a band to watch out for inevitably fall in love with, and their debut album Aftershocks is their most compelling argument for that to date.
The album opens with its title track ‘Aftershocks’, a sonic journey packed full of intricacies and quirks as it ranges from an indie rock oddity into a fully fledged alternative rock assault on the senses. The track is the perfect summation of their talents and creativity condensed into four minutes, and provides the perfect introduction to the world of Joy and the Wildfire.
The slow burning ‘The Assistant’ lulls you into a hypnotic sense of security, slowly building a sense of atmospheric tension and intrigue before bursting into life in devastating fashion, while ‘Shouldn’t I Be Older’ serves as a relatable anthem that explores themes like growing up and the shifting dynamics of our lives, as we find ourselves often wishing our time away to just skip to where we feel like we want to be or should be.
Following the brief interlude of ‘125th and Lenox’, ‘Lesson’s is an emotional gut-punch of a track that sees the band strip-things all the way back. The track explores the feeling of seeing an ex on social media with someone else for the first time and the wave of emotions and feelings that wash over you when such a realisation hits you, all of the regrets and things you’d do differently. The stripped-back nature of the sound does an incredible job of allowing these emotions to be right at the forefront of the track and leave a lasting impression on you as a listener.
‘Tears in Brooklyn’ is a track that any emerging artists who aren’t backed by the system or old money will resonate with; a track for all of the pretenders and rich kids who have everything handed to them and still cosplay as poor and relatable for their listeners. The punchy and anthemic nature of the track gives it a really vibrant appeal throughout.
The band dip into more heartfelt territory on ‘Consequence of Time’, a track that explores the lesser explored “friendship breakup” and the similarly devastating and specific kind of heartbreak that leaves a profound and lasting mark on you, as explored by the band throughout the track and the resonating feel of the sound.
The poignant and emotionally rousing ‘Zachary’ is perhaps the most heartbreaking moment on an album that is full of lessons in life, love and growing older, inspired by a school classmate that is no longer with us and detailing the way that it has affected the lives of the people around him. The gorgeously textured nature of the vocals here and the nostalgic and moving lyrics that are ever so thoughtfully crafted paint a really vivid picture of a life lost all too soon.
The album closes out with the upbeat dynamism of ‘Paradise’ and ‘Back to You’, with the former exploring the concept of paradise and deserving to be there following everything that you have been through in your life, complete with a similarly euphoric and fun instrumental. ‘Back to You’ has a more colourful and energetic palette musically and is packed full of fun charm and life, with a kaleidoscopic chorus that feels as creative and intoxicating as anything that you’re likely to hear anytime soon.
Aftershocks is an album that is packed full of lessons and cautionary tales, an collection of tracks born of experience and a life that has been lived to the fullest, with its fair share of love, loss and adventure throughout. The theme of growing up and things changing pop up a lot through the collection of tracks, and it makes for some often sombre moments, but as the musical freedom of ‘Back to You”s engrossing outro rolls around, it serves as one last reminder of the sheer fun and charm of a sound that is capable of taking you across the whole spectrum of emotions.
