Joywave – How Do You Feel Now?

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It seems like just yesterday I was finding out about a band named Joywave. My initial introduction to the band was through a friend of mine who lent me a copy of How Do You Feel Now?, and I was immediately taken back by Joywave’s cool swagger, slick production (by band members Daniel Armbruster and Sean Donnelly), and the overall package brought forth on this electric debut. Many others first got wind of Joywave through their breakthrough single/collaboration with Big Data called “Dangerous” that was bound to be successful with it’s bass-heavy delivery and great vocal performance from Armbruster. What made Joywave so charming and utterly infectious on this debut record was their ability to blend electronic and indie rock elements into their ever-evolving sound that they tinkered with on their preceding two EPs. While Joywave would go on to release four more full-length records in the ten year span that has passed since How Do You Feel Now? was first released, this album remains their strongest and most creative statement to date.

The album starts off with an abrasive, almost modem dial-up sound, before launching into the bass-heavy single of “Somebody New.” It’s on this captivating intro track that Armbruster makes his vocals cut through the mix with ease, and he croons on the chorus of, “Don’t wanna ever wake up / Don’t wanna ever wake up, I don’t / Don’t wanna ever wake up / Next to somebody new.” “Carry Me” follows the raucous opening statement with an indie rock feel much like an early-The Killers type of song, but with some electronic elements. The song accelerates to the finish line and makes for an ultra-memorable one-two punch to start off the LP.

”Tongues” was the first single to be released from the set and it features some cut up vocals in the opening bars to ensure that it makes for just the right earworm of a hook. The collaborative song with KOPPS is still used prominently in Joywave’s eclectic live shows that are captured brilliantly on their first live album, simply called Live. It’s hard to describe what this song sounds like to an outside observer because it’s so utterly unique to Joywave. “Destruction” features a spoken word sample in the beginning of the track, before blasting off into a cool mix of house music paired with a bass-driven sound to make for an utterly infectious type of single. The Rochester, NY-based Joywave commented on these heavier elements being influenced by their geographic location being dominated by metal bands, as band member Donnelly shared, “Everyone else in Rochester is very aggressive with the music they make, which has seeped into our music a little bit.”

”Now” is one of the more straight-forward type of songs in Joywave’s catalog, but it rocks with a steady urgency in its delivery. The frenetic beats on “Parade”, paired with some unique samples in it, keep the rest of the record on track, while its worth noting that Joywave got rare permission from Disney to use audio samples from Bambi, Peter Pan and Fantasia in several of the songs found here. “In Clover” allows the listener to breathe a bit from the aggressive energy brought forth in more of a mid-tempo reflective song, and “Feels Like a Lie” makes sense as a complementary track in the overall album sequencing.

”Traveling at the Speed of Light” is the most logical precursor to where Joywave would take their sound on subsequent albums like Content, and especially Possession. The spacey type of song takes its time picking up momentum as Armbruster remains at his most captivating in a cool, and crisp vocal performance. “Nice House” is a song that rocks along with great urgency, while the album closer of “Bad Dreams” rounds out the overall approach from Joywave that was firing on all creative cylinders on How Do You Feel Now?. The recent Record Store Day 10th anniversary reissue of the record also includes the B-side “Life in a Bubble I Blew” that is a worthy addition to the already great set of music found here. The band would continue to evolve nicely in their discography from this point on, but it’s hard to recognize this particular record as the gold standard for what Joywave is all about and capable of making when everything clicks succinctly into place.

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