The Joy Formidable | The Big Roar

Most Likely To: be the most cuddly ass-kicking you’ll ever receive.

The word “adorable” has a new picture adorning its entry in the dictionary and it’s that of Ritzy Bryan, vocalist and guitarist for the Welsh dream-pop trio The Joy Formidable. Bryan is so lethally cute, with her blonde pageboy and twinkling smile, that you halfway expect the band’s roadies and guitar techs to be cartoon birds, squirrels, and bunnies.

However, anyone tempted to dismiss Ritzy as just a whimsical little sprite will have their attitude adjusted in a big hurry as soon as she picks up her guitar. She may look as delightful as a baby bunny wearing a funny hat, but she’s an absolutely unforgiving motherfucker once she gets her axe in her hands, summoning the titular The Big Roar of the album title as effortlessly as a pissed-off Mother Nature whips up a thunderstorm to pummel anyone who offers her margarine instead of butter. (As always, apologies to anyone who might not quickly grasp my allusions to long outdated commercials – i.e., at this point anyone younger than Mickey Rooney.)

In the land of dream-pop, Bryan resides much closer to the neighborhood of in-your-face shit disturbers like Giant Drag’s Annie Hardy, Curve’s Toni Halliday, or Gemma Hayes than the more ethereal types like Elizabeth Fraser or Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell. Bryan packs her songs with pop hooks, sings the hell out of them, and then lets massive, wailing squalls of feedback finish her thought for her.

Take the single “Whirring,” for instance. It starts as a catchy but loud pop song with guitar chords chiming like a clock. “This much delight / Fills columns to new heights,” Ritzy sings with great accuracy, then as the song becomes more frenzied, she sadly informs the listener that “Love can’t stay here.” At that point, she proceeds to whip up a shitstorm of guitar pyrotechnics guaranteed to kick the listener’s ass and send him crying home to his mommy.

I suppose I should take a moment to point out that the two guys in the band ain’t exactly slouches when it comes to raising a ruckus, but they get to hang out with Ritzy so petty jealousy prevents me from bothering to learn their names. They’re Welsh, so it’s safe to say whatever they’re called likely doesn’t involve vowels.

The Joy Formidable’s previous E.P. and singles definitely promised great things from the band, and The Big Roar doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. Ritzy Bryan and those two guys (okay, their names are drummer Matt Thomas and the decidedly Welsh bassist Rhydian Daffyd) exceeded all the very high expectations placed on them and delivered what is surely going to be one of the best debut albums of the year. Their combination of pop and power, the adorable and the ass-kicking, is a joy that is without a doubt formidable.

Watch the video for “Austere” by The Joy Formidable: