Now Playing: The Joy Formidable – ‘Cholla’
The Joy Formidable - Cholla
Now Playing – every week, a roundtable of our writers will give their views on one of the recently-released new tracks. It’s as simple as that! If you want to tell us what you think of the song, feel free to leave a comment below.
Track: ‘Cholla’ by The Joy Formidable
Average grade: 6.2
Kenneth: Thankfully something brand new from the trio (though they’re playing the long game if the album’s not out till January). Sound-wise this is what you’d expect from the group – clear vocals, towering guitar noise and a driving rhythm so all in it’s 8/10 from me
Richard: I’ve always wondered what it would be like to walk through a car wash? Could you survive those two furry red rollers rubbing against you? All the soap suds and bubbles. ‘Cholla’ washes over you in a similar hit from multiple angles fashion. “Where are we going? What are we doing?” It’s good to know that the band is singing about uncertainty, because I’m not too sure what I’m talking about here. 7/10
Anna: Nice little dynamite of a tune — immaculately produced as well. Not their best work yet but still pretty damn good. Repeat & jump. 7.5/10
Craig: A cholla, for those who don’t know, is a type of cactus native to North and South America. Perhaps the most formidable species of this cactus is the jumping cholla whose nodes dislodge at the slightest disturbance and dig their barbed spines into the offender, making it a particularly difficult removal process. This song is that removal process; the melody has attached itself to my brain painfully and is agonizing to get out of my head. 3/10
Linda: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s what the Joy Formidable must have thought when writing this one. Though, admittedly, I haven’t heard much of their back catalogue, this is exactly how I remember it. Might be for some, but not for me. 5/10
Tom: Rocking out like a Welsh Breeders, The Joy Formidable are very easy to like. Cholla, which may or may not be about Jewish bread, thrives on Ritzy Bryan’s bell clear, ultra cool vocals and rocket fuelled lead guitar. Straight out of Mold! 8/10
Stef: It starts out really loud and a-rockin’. When the female vocals come in they tone it down a bit, but you can hear still the drums and guitars giving it that rock vibe. At 1:50 you get a totally nonsense intermezzo which I really have no clue about as what it does in there. If you like rock, there’s some nice stuff in here. If you’re not a fan of this particular genre, I’m not sure this will convert you. 5/10
