British indie-rock quartet Lovejoy has unleashed their latest EP with the release of the rip-roaring and prescient Wake Up & It’s Over. The six-song collection finds the band at their most merrily volatile, armed with their love of jaunty guitar rhythms and delightfully brash sonics. It also serves as the follow-up to their debut Are You Alright? EP and its side-winding rock energy. Led by the incisive howls of frontman Will Gold they charge forth, buoyed by the heady bass rumblings of Ash Kabosu and drummer Mark Boardman, as well as the electrifying guitar work of Joe Goldsmith.
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To say that all the tracks on Wake Up & It’s Over are veritable barn burners would be a gross understatement. Created with the pandemic as a backdrop and imbued with all the rollicking frenetics inherent to the band’s melodic kineticism, every song on the EP arrives like a detonation of sardonic wit and bleak earnestness. There’s the hounding bass that elastically thrums throughout “Portrait of a Blank Slate,” a song that brings forth the full heft of Gold’s morose self-deprecation with infectious dynamism.
The auditory pyrotechnics continue on “Call Me What You Like,” another eviscerating rager that wrestles with finding another person with whom to cope with modern anxieties. “And I’ve found that the road to happiness is paved / With rows and rows of very tempting parking spaces,” Gold glibly remarks. On “Warsaw” spiraling riffs take a nosedive alongside a rampant pummeling courtesy of Boardman as the band is pulled into a mix of memories mingled with an ever-burgeoning apathy.
Some of the EP’s other doozy tracks include the melancholy-saturated “Scum” and its inflammatory finale of dueling-grueling guitars. “It’s Golden Hour Somewhere” is where Lovejoy offers their final word and boy, oh boy is it a dim one. “Is this what you needed?” Gold murmurs in its opening lines, “Is this what it’s worth?” Between thunderous hammerings, he wrangles with everything from humanity’s insatiable consumption to the insane ego that drives it. “They’ll tell you this is normal, they’ll tell you this is love,” he howls against drum wallops. But the swindle is hidden in plain sight: “They’ll sell you the rope by which you hang yourself.”
“After a year of radio silence we are overjoyed to finally release our new EP Wake Up & It’s Over,” the band said. “We’ve had an incredible time on the road so far, playing shows & meeting our amazing community. We can’t wait to see you all again in what is sure to be a momentous summer.”
Visit Lovejoy on their website, Twitter, and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Lovejoy tour
May 19th – Portland, OR – Hawthorne
May 20th – Seattle, WA – Neumos
May 23rd – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
May 24th – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre (Venue Upgrade)
May 26th – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (Venue Upgrade)
May 27th – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater (Venue Upgrade)
May 28th – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre (Venue Upgrade)
May 30th – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
June 2nd – Boston, MA – Royale
June 3rd – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
June 6th – Washington, D.C. – Howard
June 10th – New York, NY – Governors Ball Music Festival
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to Wake Up & It’s Over the new EP from Lovejoy below!
