The disco generation needs saving. There’s no real question about it, the scene that was so prominent in the past has, since the turn of the century, gained most exposure via artists like Kesha and Eurovision embarrassments Scooch. Say what you want about Kesha, but when Scooch is a go-to example of anything, its time to check your genre into intensive care. Nonetheless, one band attempting to be the defibrillator of a flatlining scene are glam pop firebrands Joywride. If the “glam pop” phrase is new to you, think dance-pop with fancier hair and tighter jeans. It’s a term, however, that Joywride are looking to take into orbit, and going on first impressions, the potential for them to do so is certainly there.
If the video for ’21st Century Love’ is anything to go by, then the capital-dwelling quartet have an undeniable charisma that could see them taking up stages and radio time for years to come. The song itself, meanwhile, is awash with hooks soaring so high that passing aircraft should be on alert. Frontman Ollie Wride and guitarist Josh Dally combine superbly to give the track its airy, effervescent sound that could, with more exposure, send it skyrocketing into the charts. It’s a solid first effort from a band still finding their footing in the quest to bring glam pop to the masses. Diving deeper into the work Joywride currently have to show off reveals another potential floorfiller in the form of ‘Head Rush’. The track is a foot-stamping, hand-clapping, incredibly fun piece that’s one over-choreographed dance routine short of making music video channel “the Box” watchable again, and will hopefully feature strongly in the eventual first EP or album that the four-piece unveil.
If two potential eurodance anthems weren’t enough, Joywride, have also cooked up ‘Bad Tattoo’, another bouncy display of vibrance from an increasingly promising band. Packing an inhibition-dissolving chorus, hypnotic synths and highly infectious group vocals, ‘Bad Tattoo’ contains all the ingredients to make any party lover’s ears perk up. On the band’s site, there are forty-second samples available for tracks ‘Back to Reality’, ‘People Like You and Me’, ‘Spotlights’ and ‘This Isn’t Paradise’ as well as ‘Headrush’, hinting at a work-in-progress tracklist for a future EP. ‘Back to Reality’ bosses a powerful sounding chorus, while ‘People Like You and Me’ brims with Maroon 5-esque vocals. ‘Spotlights’ contains the lyric “I don’t think we’re ready for the spotlight”, though once the previewed tracks are fully fleshed out, the band very well could be. ‘This Isn’t Paradise’ boasts a chord progression eerily similar to Tears for Fears’ classic ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, and with the band clearly influenced by the eighties icons, it’s not surprising that this influence has shown in such a way. It’s nothing to take away from Joywride, however, who are teasing a very auspicious future with the music they have on display so far.
At the end of the day, the mantra Joywride are living by is clearly to produce music that will pull a heavily weathered disco scene back from years of floundering. Above everything else, the tracks produced so far are no-frills fun that aims to remind the world what made disco such a sensation before, and why a revival should be taken seriously. It’s an ambitious mountain to climb, but Joywride may yet take glam pop from throwaway term to next big thing. Time will tell.
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