Tag Archive for: No Joy

NO JOY // BITS (VISUALIZER) STEREOGUM, NORTHERN TRANSMISSIONS, BANDCAMP DAILY, BROOKLYN VEGAN, THE FADER

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Last month NO JOY, the long-running project of Jasamine White-Gluz, announced their 5th LP Bugland. The album is her first since 2020’s Motherhood, which featured Tara McLeod of the prominent early ‘oughts nu metal band Kittie, was perhaps the most critically-acclaimed of No Joy’s career, receiving an 8.0 from Pitchfork who described it as “a shoegaze album with a rare scope and an even rarer sense of fun and imagination.”

Produced with the heralded Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, No Joy’s latest is due out August 8th on Hand Drawn Dracula and Sonic Cathedral, and was announced with the album’s title track, which saw immediate praise from all quarters. The track was named best of the week by Pitchfork, BrooklynVegan, Exclaim and Stereogum, who called it “simultaneously gritty and beautiful, like tending to a garden that’s just about to bloom,” while declaring it “Bug Girl Summer,” and Pitchfork recently named the album one of the most anticipated releases of the summer, praising it’s “sprawling and askew shoegaze epics.”

Today No Joy is sharing a second preview of the LP, a single entitled “Bits”. The track arrives to coincide with the announce of No Joy’s upcoming North American tour dates.

“This song was inspired by excerpts from a letter I wrote to the music media as a child in 1994 defending Courtney Love, urging them to leave her alone, is the spoken word heard towards the end of the song. The original demo was built around me blowing out my guitar distortion using the Earthquaker Devices Bit Commander guitar pedal. Thematically I wanted to capture the feeling of running through tall grass, playing hide and seek behind big trees.” – White-Gluz


“Cocteau-esque harmonies and atmosphere amid raging, sludgy guitars” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“16 New Songs Out Today” / “Favorite Songs of the Week” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“58 Albums We’re Anticipating for Summer 2025 / weird, shoegazy goodnes” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“No Joy release new single Bits” – NORTHERN TRANSMISSIONS

“Bits is the searing, satin-swathed brand-new single” – THE AUTUMN ROSES

“a shining supernova in its own right” – MUSIC IS TO BLAME

“Bits is a stunning and melodic track which switches effortlessly between Lush dreampop and L7-style grunge” – BIZZARRE

“as nostalgic as it is abrasive, combining digital noises and melodic passages with a distinctly narrative intent” – MINDIES

“THE HOTLIST / a playful, wide-eyed effort touching on everything from shoegaze to cyberpunk” – BANDCAMP DAILY

“endearing track has a worthwhile buildup to an unexpected but rewarding finale of sweeping, hazy guitars” – STEREOGUM

“Songs You Need In Your Life This Week / No Joy defiantly zags, spiking their punch with death metal, techno, and darkwave” – FADER


Bugland out August 8th
Hand Drawn Dracula Edition pressed on Chrysalis Blue Vinyl
Limited Edition of 100 Laurel Green Larvae Vinyl (Exclusive to Hand Drawn Dracula Bandcamp and the Levitation Store)
PRE-ORDER: VARIOUS / LEVITATION / BANDCAMP

Sep 03: Washington DC @ Comet Ping Pong
Sep 04: New York NY @ Trans Pecos
Sep 05: Philadelphia PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
Sep 06: Elizabethtown NY @ Otis Mountain Getdown Festival
Sep 13: Calgary AB @ Dandy Fest
Sep 26: Montreal QC @ POP Montreal
Oct 01: Ottawa ON @ 27 Club
Oct 02: Toronto ON @ Project Nowhere Festival
Oct 15: Manchester UK @ YES Basement
Oct 17: London UK @ Moth Club
Oct 18: Chelmsford UK @ Hot Box
Oct 19: Coventry UK @ Just Dropped In
Oct 20: Glasgow UK @ Glad Cafe
Oct 21: Leeds UK @ Headrow House
Oct 23: Rotterdam NL @ Left of the Dial Festival
Oct 24: Rotterdam NL @ Left of the Dial Festival
Oct 25: Paris FR @ Supersonic
Oct 28: Berlin DE @ 8mm
Nov 07: Seattle WA @ Freakout Festival
*** TICKETS HERE

NO JOY // BUGLAND (SINGLE & VIDEO) EXCLAIM! MAGAZINE, BROOKLYN VEGAN, STEREOGUM, THE NEEDLE DROP, PITCHFORK

NO JOY is the project of Jasamine White-Gluz. First coming to wide attention as a three piece band around the release of their 2011 debut LP Ghost Blonde, the project has morphed into Jasamine’s solo project, and she has consistently evolved in unexpected ways over 4 LPs and a handful of EPs. Her most recent LP, 2020’s Motherhood, which featured Tara McLeod of the prominent early ‘oughts nu metal band Kittie, was perhaps the most critically-acclaimed of No Joy’s career, receiving an 8.0 from Pitchfork who described it as “a shoegaze album with a rare scope and an even rarer sense of fun and imagination.”

Today, No Joy is back with another re-invention and another unexpected collaborator, as she announces her follow up to her 2020 LP. Produced with the much buzzed about Chicago experimental artist Fire-Toolz, No Joy’s latest album is entitled Bugland and will be released on Hand Drawn Dracula (CAN/US/ROW) and Sonic Cathedral (EU/UK) on August 8th. To mark the announce No Joy is sharing the album’s titled track “Bugland.”

“The collaboration really felt limitless,” says Fire-Toolz (aka Angel Marcloid). “I didn’t have to adhere to a certain vision in a way that made me feel like I couldn’t be Fire-Toolz. I could easily relate to this album because Jasamine and I liked a lot of the same music, and I was able to be creative in ways that were freeing as if I was making my own album.”

The album’s title track was also the genesis of their collaboration, and neatly encapsulates the way their styles have melded. Some of the heavy elements of Motherhood remain, but are tempered by a tapestry of glitchy electronics that make up the track’s constantly shifting arrangement.

“This was the first song Fire-Toolz & No Joy produced together, initially without any plan to ever release it. Our production styles melded so well together on this track that we decided we should make a whole album. The song came together super organically, from the Korn-esque bass lines to the earworm vocal, it’s the welcome sign of the album letting you know you’ve officially entered our world.” – White-Gluz


“The 37 Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2025” – PITCHFORK

“This Week’s Pitchfork Selects Playlist” – Pitchfork Selects / PITCHFORK

“Bug Girl Summer is upon us.” – The 5 Best Songs Of The Week / STEREOGUM

“It recalls the best moments in shoegaze-gone-baggy of the early ’90s, Madchester beats infiltrating a mesmerizing bed of sound” – Essential Tracks This Week / TREBLEZINE

“Week’s Best New Canadian Music” – The Eh! List / EXCLAIM!

“an inspired match made in weirdo shoegaze dance music heaven” – Best Songs and Albums of May 2025 / BROOKLYN VEGAN

“Our Favorite Songs of the Week” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“No Joy announces Fire-Toolz-produced album, Bugland” – TREBLEZINE

“After 5 Years, the Montreal Band Releases a New Album” – INDIEFORBUNNIES

“No Joy annonce son prochain album BUGLAND” – LE CANAL AUDITIF

“une pièce qui est également part rock aérien et guitare bruyante. Du délice” – The most notable songs of May 2025 / LE CANAL AUDITIF

“La metamorfosis sonora de No Joy arranca con BUGLAND” – MINDIES

“occupying the space where dream-pop morphs into hyperpop and vice versa” – STUBERMANIA

“The shoegaze project helmed by Montreal mastermind Jasamine White-Gluz, have announced their forthcoming new album” – EXCLAIM!

“Jasamine White-Gluz’s beloved project is back” – STEREOGUM

“No Joy announce new Fire-Toolz produced album BUGLAND” – BROOKLYN VEGAN

“No Joy teams with Fire-Toolz for new album BUGLAND” – THE NEEDLE DROP

“No Joy Announces New Album BUGLAND” – PITCHFORK


Bugland out August 8th
Standard Edition pressed on Chrysalis Blue Vinyl
Limited Edition of 100 Laurel Green Larvae Vinyl (Exclusive to Hand Drawn Dracula Bandcamp and the Levitation Store)
PRE-ORDER: VARIOUS / LEVITATION / BANDCAMP

Sep 06: Elizabethtown NY @ Otis Mountain Getdown Festival
Sep 26: Montreal @ Toscadura – Pop Montreal Festival
Oct 15: Manchester @ YES Basement
Oct 17: London @ Moth Club
Oct 18: Chelmsford @ Hot Box
Oct 19: Coventry @ Just Dropped In
Oct 20: Glasgow @ Glad Cafe
Oct 21: Leeds @ Headrow House
Oct 23: Rotterdam @ Left of the Dial Festival
Oct 24: Rotterdam @ Left of the Dial Festival
Oct 25: Paris @ Supersonic
Oct 28: Berlin @ 8mm
Nov 6-9: Seattle @ Freakout Festival
MORE TBA

NO JOY // THE BEST SHOW (IN STUDIO) AND USA TOUR DATES

NO JOY announce USA Tour dates and an in-studio performance at The Best Show with Tom Scharpling.

05.28 Tune In – The Best Show Twitch TV
05.29 Los Angeles CA – Non Plus Ultrala w/ Donzii, Lauren Lakis
05.31 McGill NV – Schellraiser Fest w/ Miki Berenyi Trio, Besnard Lakes, Mercury Rev
06.01 Las Vegas NV – The Usual Place w/ Headwinds, Mutual


Wait To Pleasure (10th Anniversary Edition) : BANDCAMP // SPOTIFY // APPLE // VARIOUS

NO JOY // WAIT TO PLEASURE (10th Anniversary Edition)

To mark its ten year anniversary, Hand Drawn Dracula presents a new, limited edition pressing of NO JOY‘s classic album Wait to Pleasure expanded with two new tracks from the beloved band’s original line up. Pressed on an exclusive edition of 100 translucent tan vinyl.

Wait To Pleasure is the product of the Montreal noise-pop band’s first foray in a fully-furnished studio environment. Here the band has flourished, delivering their finest set to date, rooted heavily in shoegaze ripcurls and devastating melody, finishing sentences whispered long ago with depth, variance and force. Singer-guitarists Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd and drummer Garland Hastings knock down the fence between nostalgia and modernity, chaos and control, in a perfectly- realized effort made to bridge their uncompromised musical pasts with the alarmist tendencies of the present.

“Rare Shoegaze Gems From All Eras Unearthed – the modern shoegaze record to beat” – DAILY BANDCAMP

“multifaceted arrangements that reflected a careful recording process – Wait to Pleasure is a gorgeously recorded piece of dream pop” – INTERVIEW / EXCLAIM!

Wait To Pleasure found No Joy set loose in the record label, Mexican Summer, studio for two weeks in 2012 with producer Jorge Elbrecht at the helm. “Our earlier records are purely guitar-based, rock band lineups,” Laura adds, “and with Wait To Pleasure we seized the opportunity to change things up a bit.”

“We play as if the audience isn’t there, and we wouldn’t care if there weren’t anyone in the room at all, other than our band,” Jasamine qualifies. “No matter what, we are making this music for ourselves.” Feel fortunate, then, that we are invited along to listen in, to take what we want out of No Joy’s songs. They’ve gotten everything they wanted already. [photo: Richmond Lam]

ORDER HDD EXCLUSIVE VINYL : BANDCAMP
STREAM : VARIOUS / APPLE / SPOTIFY

10/06 New York NY – Bowery Ballroom – Mexican Summer Showcase – TICKETS

NO JOY // CATALOGUE NOW AVAILABLE ON HAND DRAWN DRACULA // WAIT TO PLEASURE, MORE FAITHFUL, GHOST BLONDE AND MORE!

NO JOY’s catalogue is now available on Hand Drawn Dracula Records Canada!!!! With a penchant for delay-saturated jangle, industrial distortion, and sludgey drones over disco beats with leveled-up expertise in production, NO JOY has showcased and evolved their sound through these pivotal Canadian releases.

Following their acclaimed 2010 debut, Ghost Blonde, No Joy released the five-song EP Negaverse, a mini album that highlighted “both the intimacy and intricacy of their song-craft.” “With their strong second full-length Wait to Pleasure, No Joy transcended the faithful shoegaze revivalism of their 2010 debut by yanking melodies out of their thick, fuzzy guitar stew and operating with previously unforeseen refinement and clarity” (Pitchfork). That same year they released the “fleeting yet revelatory” (Exclaim) Pastel & Pass Out EP to coincide with their 2013 European tour. On 2015’s More Faithful, No Joy “pulled off one hell of a trick: by the time it’s over, you’re wondering how a record so precise, so considered, can sound so gloriously laid-back” (The Line Of Best Fit).

Stream NO JOY on all platforms HERE
2010 Ghost Blonde – BANDCAMP / STREAM
2012 Negaverse – BANDCAMP / STREAM
2013 Wait To Pleasure – BANDCAMP / STREAM
2013 Pastel & Pass Out – BANDCAMP / STREAM
2015 More Faithful – BANDCAMP / STREAM


NOV 19 / Berlin, DE – Synaesthesie Festival w/ Sonic Boom, Tricky, Slowdive
NOV 22 / Montreal, CA – Bar Le Ritz w/ Preoccupations
NOV 24 / Toronto, CA – Lees Palace w/ Preoccupations

NO JOY /// PURE SHORES (ALL SAINTS COVER) BIZZARRE, BROOKLYN VEGAN, STEREOGUM, GORILLA VS BEAR

NO JOY and Marsfade cover All Saints’ 2000 classic “Pure Shores.” The original dream-pop sleeper hit, produced by William Orbit, is best known as the soundtrack to the 2000 Leonardo DiCaprio film The Beach. Over twenty years later, while trapped in another lockdown, Jasamine White-Gluz (aka No Joy) dreamed of sunnier days and produced this warm electro-pop cover. Between Tara McLeod’s (Kittie) surfy guitars and guest vocalist Marsfade wall of harmonies, the song evokes nostalgia, hopefulness, and finding solace on the beach.

Pure Shores (ft. Marsfade) : Bandcamp / Deezer / Spotify / Apple
PRESS : SIDEWALK HUSTLE, BIZZARRE, THE AUTUMN ROSES, BROOKLYN VEGAN, STEREOGUM, GORILLA VS BEAR

 

NO JOY // CAN MY DAUGHTER SEE ME FROM HEAVEN EP, TALKHOUSE, BROOKLYN VEGAN, FLOOD, FILTER, GORILLA VS BEAR, BANDCAMP NEW & NOTABLE

Today, NO JOY, the genre-defying project of Jasamine White-Gluz, is releasing their new EP, Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven. The EP features orchestral reimaginings of 4 songs from No Joy’s critically acclaimed 2020 album Motherhood and a cover of Deftones’ “Teenager.”

A close listen to the 5 songs that comprise Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven will reveal the absurdist influences behind the EP: Disney’s 1986 DTV Valentine special, which set tracks like Eurythmics’ “There Must Be An Angel” to classic animation, live reimaginations of ‘90s alt-favorites like Bjork performing “Isobel” with a live orchestra, and inventive instrument expressions of the same era, like steel drums and acoustic guitars on Jane’s Addiction’s “Jane Says.” “Some of those late 90s electronica trip-hop acts involved strings in their live performance. I was interested in that, and with some of them, I was like, ‘Let’s go full Little Mermaid,” White-Gluz says.

To commemorate the release White-Gluz chatted with the multi-instrumentalist Ouri (of Hildegard), who plays on the EP, for TALKHOUSE. She also put together a playlist of influences for BROOKLYN VEGAN, and penned a track by track breakdown of the EP for FLOOD Magazine. Feature: BANDCAMP NEW & NOTABLE, BV INDIE BASEMENT, FILTER, JOURNAL METRO, GORILLA VS BEAR

Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven is out today via Hand Drawn Dracula in Canada. Order: bandcamp / streaming

NO JOY // TEENAGER – FROM HEAVEN (DEFTONES COVER) (VIDEO) STROMBO SHOW, THE LINE OF BEST FIT, BROOKLYN VEGAN, STEREOGUM, INDIE88, EXCLAIM, UNDER THE RADAR, NPR

NO JOY the genre-defying project of Jasamine White-Gluz, has shared a video for their cover of Deftones‘ “Teenager (From Heaven)” from their upcoming release, Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven.

Radio premiere via THE STROMBO SHOW
Video via THE LINE OF BEST FIT, BROOKLYN VEGAN, STEREOGUM, BIZZARRE MAGAZINE, THE PRP, EXCLAIM!, INDIE88, UNDER THE RADAR, NPR

“I have never been shy about my love for Deftones,” says White-Gluz. “White Pony is one of my favorite records of all time and the track Teenager was proof to me that they were a band bigger than any nu-metal confines they were trapped in. It’s such a sensitive and delicate song sequenced right in the center of a very heavy album. We recorded our version completely remotely. Nailah’s harp, Tara’s lapsteel, and Ouri’s experimental cello really capture the emotional feeling I had when I first heard the song as a teenager.”

As a companion & contrast to themes presented on both 2020’s Motherhood and upcoming EP, White-Gluz was interested in the aesthetic tradition of cinema-verite? & youth-directed expression. While the video for the previously released single “Kidder (From Heaven)” was created from the perspective 7-year-old director Sloan, the video for “Teenager (From Heaven)” was directed & shot by 15-year-old Kevin in Arizona.

“I took the videos cause I want something to remember when I grow up. It’s always the small moments like skating around with your friends or walking around your high school campus that means the most,” says the video’s director. “It’s gonna be really cool when I get older and see these old videos with all my old classmates and friends.’

Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven is out May 19th via Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada) and Joyful Noise (ROW).
Available for pre-order : bandcamp / smartlink

NO JOY // KIDDER – FROM HEAVEN (VIDEO) THE LINE OF BEST FIT, UNDER THE RADAR, BROOKLYN VEGAN, INDIE 88, NPR

NO JOY, the genre-defying project of Jasamine White-Gluz, has announced Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven, a new album of orchestral re-imaginings of songs from their critically acclaimed 2020 LP Motherhood. The first single “Kidder (from Heaven)” is out now, video directed by 7 year old Sloan.

Of the song, White-Gluz says “for me, Kidder evokes duality; youth & aging, happy & sad, bright & dark. I’ve sat with this song for such a long time that for this video I wanted to give full creative control over to someone else to see what imagery the music evoked for them. I couldn’t think of anyone better suited than Sloan- her mind works in wondrous ways and it was an honor to soundtrack her vision.” The video’s director Sloan adds “I wanted to imitate the sparkliness of a dream.”

THE LINE OF BEST FIT / UNDER THE RADAR / BROOKLYN VEGAN / INDIE 88 / NPR

Can My Daughter See Me From Heaven is out May 19th via Hand Drawn Dracula (Canada) and Joyful Noise (ROW).
Available for pre-order : bandcamp / smartlink

NO JOY // MOTHERHOOD (ALBUM) PITCHFORK, PASTE, FADER, NME, BROOKLYN VEGAN, LE DEVOIR, THE LINE OF BEST FIT, EXCLAIM!

For those unacquainted, NO JOY is Jasmine White-Gluz. She is a strange genius. Her new album, first in 5 years, Motherhood, is a fascinating album that is equal parts shoegaze, trip hop, trance, and nu-metal. Yes, NU-METAL. Motherhood is the culmination of years composing outside her comfort zone, and a return to DIY recording with leveled-up expertise in production.

“one of the most distinguished shoegaze acts of the last decade”… “a shoegaze album with a rare scope and an even rarer sense of fun and imagination” – 8 / PITCHFORK

“a blisteringly progressive record – one that genuinely feels years ahead of its time” – 9/10 THE LINE OF BEST FIT

“a 42-minute whirlwind of dreamy, danceable, shape-shifting art-pop that feels both chaotic and carefully controlled; staggeringly complex and laser-focused; exhausting and exhilarating” – PASTE

” White-Gluz branches out fearlessly in all directions on Motherhood … and takes No Joy’s always-restless creative spark to unimaginable new places.” – ALLMUSIC

FEATURED IN: PITCHFORK, BROOKLYN VEGAN, FADER, NME, DAILY BANDCAMP, INDIE88, EXCLAIM!
INTERVIEW: ALLMUSIC, FLOOD, CULT MTL, LE DEVOIR, LE CANAL AUDITIF, BROOKLYN VEGAN, APPLE MUSIC, JEZEBEL

Motherhood out now via Joyful Noise Recordings (ROW) and Hand Drawn Dracula Records (CAN).
NEON VIOLET LP/CD: handdrawndracula.bandcamp.com
DIGTAL: smarturl.it/nojoy084

NO JOY // DREAM RATS (VIDEO) PITCHFORK, INDIE88, REVOLVER, EXCLAIM!

Today NO JOY releases the official music video for “Dream Rats” (directed by Beatrice Scharf-Pierzchala) from forthcoming album Motherhood. Also this Friday No Joy plays a full band livestream / album release show via Baby TV at 8pm EST. “Dream Rats” features frontperson and principal songwriter Jasamine White-Gluz’s sister, Alissa, of deathcore supergroup Arch Enemy.
 
PITCHFORK, INDIE88, EXCLAIM!, INDIE ROCKS, REVOLVER MAGAZINE
 
MOTHERHOOD out THIS FRIDAY via Joyful Noise Recordings (ROW) and Hand Drawn Dracula Records (CAN).
PRE-ORDER Neon Violet LP/CD/DIGTAL: smarturl.it/nojoy084

The video also features an amazing duck named Success who is somewhat of a local celebrity in Montreal. The White-Gluz sisters want to take this opportunity to spotlight the work of Le Nichoir Wild Bird Rehabilitation Centre, a non-profit organization located in Hudson, Quebec. Their mission is to conserve wild birds as part of our natural heritage. Donate and learn more here: https://www.canadahelps.org/

Aug 21 6PM Irving Plaza (Q & A)
Aug 21 8PM Baby’s Alright (Live Stream), New York NY – TICKETS