It’s been 15 years since the Canadian band No Joy released their debut record, Ghost Blonde. In that time, the narrative around shoegaze music has very much shifted, not unlike almost everything else in the world. Listening to the record with fresh ears, Ghost Blonde is both timeless and very much of its time. Beyond its atmospheric underpinnings, the record’s melodic sensibility and rhythmic pulse bear hallmarks of the lo-fi and garage scenes that almost defined underground rock music in the late 2000s. Put it this way: You probably aren’t going to be finding Ghost Blonde’s pounding Jesus and Mary Chain by way of Ronettes rhythms on a record made by some Deftones-worshipping Zoomers. It’s just good, hazy rock and roll—no wallet chain needed—and it’s ready to be discovered by a new generation of shoegazers.
No Joy - Ghost Blonde
Staff PicksThe band’s 2010 shoegaze classic is now on Nina.
By editorial
2025/02/13
- 1Mediumship
- 2Heedless
- 3Maggie Says I Love You
- 4You Girls Smoke Cigarettes?
- 5Pacific Pride
- 6Hawaii
- 7Indigo Child
- 8Still
- 9Untitled
- 10Ghost Blonde
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