9.29°C Colchester-based band Sons of Joy released their debut EP, Sons of Joy, at 11am this morning – just 15 hours after meeting for their first rehearsal.
The duo, made up of Daniel Merrill (Flowers of Evil, Dead Rat Orchestra) and Matthew Simpkins (Rev Simpkins, FuzzFace), worked at remarkable speed. They rehearsed from 8–9pm (following a light tea), recorded the tracks on an iPhone between 9–9.24pm, mastered them by 9.54pm and completed the artwork by 10.30pm. The three-track EP was released for download at 11am the following morning.
Two violins played through AA battery-powered Pignose amps combine with stomp drum and hollered vocals to create the band’s raucous take on guttural gospel and death-soaked blues.
The Sons of Joy EP is available now from sonsofjoy.bandcamp.com, with fans invited to decide how much – or how little – to pay.
Sons of Joy perform at Swinburne Hall, Colchester, at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 24th November 2010.
The Sons of Joy Manifesto
We hereby reclaim folk music.
We reject technical constructs including pentatonic forms, blues scales or modes, triadic harmony, “correct” tuning, 12-bar blues and any other standardised structure.
We deny the musical primacy of the rational or technical over the spiritual and that which is of the soul.
We affirm the pre-eminence of bowed string instruments and revile the electrified guitar as the prime corruptor of music.
We deny that things of the spirit can be made subject to copyright or ownership.
We reject the falsification of musical truths through multitracking or the use of multiple microphones.
