LIVE FROM THE PIT: Horse Jumper of Love and Joyer

The genre of slowcore is something not often brought to the forefront of conversation when talking about indie rock and its adjacent genre span, however it is one of the most easily accessible and tangible. We find it to be a solidifying moment of the genre. When looking at bands like AMERICAN MUSIC CLUB, CODEINE or the iconic DUSTER, who have had a huge resurgence on social media the past few years, it is unfortunately a genre that is still yet to have its mainstream resurgence into current and upcoming bands. We were fortunate enough to get to see one of each on a chilly night in November at Yes, in Manchester.

The evening started out with the incredibly dreamy act JOYER, an act of two brothers Nick and Shane on the heels of their most recent album On The Other End Of The Line…, an incredible entry into their discography full of introspective vocals, hazy, dreamlike riffs and endless hypnotic songs they launch into the opener of the album I Know Your Secret mid-set and capture the hearts and minds of the room. JOYER's entire set is teeming with vulnerability, shoegaze soundscapes and rich, warm vocalizations that sound as familiar as home. We found ourselves mesmerised at the back of the room, completely unwilling to break eye contact to avoid breaking the spell their influence had over us. An illusion that allows the rest of the audience to briefly disappear like spectres, leaving us alone with the band in a connection that felt unmistakably whole and awe-inspiring.

There are many things to be said of HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE, especially under these circumstances of getting to hear their self titled record on this anniversary tour. Like a love letter to the release, they play it front to back starting with Ugly Brunette, the song that started our love affair with this band. It’s a little hard for us to believe this record is already 10 years old, but when we recycle through memories of it we realise it must be true. For some of us this record helped us through the pandemic, through a difficult period of personal pain, or even just through a rainy sunday with our feet up on the sofa. Ugly Brunette is a stark reminder of these times, with its subdued verses leading into striking loud choruses, decorated in fuzz, leading into a tempo

increase before the final crescendo of instrumentality resonating our from the speakers. The band quickly moves into July 5th, a mostly instrumental track - if Ugly Brunette is a warm dream, then this track is the disjointed nightmare. The instrumental barely lasts a minute, but in that it has some of HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE's most murky and dark moments musically. We launch into Bagel Breath, a song that is striking in its guitar sounds but even more so in lyricism, "The old sour patch, I like it stuck to my skin, dried and vacuumed, bagel breath in the morning". The track features pauses in instrumentation throughout before returning to the slacker type riff that sounds like lazy, half awake plodding.

As the band continues through Spaceman, DIRT, and Sun Poisoning, the crowd have become completely captured in the flow of the band. There is something about HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE's sound that invites curiosity, every note, every word allows pause and contemplation from the people in the audience who clearly know every word to the ones who may not. Before we know it we arrive at the final track of their seminal debut Orange Peeler. One of the most romantic songs on the record, striking in its storytelling and every strike of a guitar sounds like the image of a sunrise. Just before they leave us we get two final tracks from their second record So Divine, Ur Real Life and finally the aptly named Volcano with the instrumental ambient track Twist Cone separating us from their anniversary set. So Divine was so striking as it was a much louder record, while still dreamy like it’s predecessor it is sonically elevated and the track Volcano is one of the best examples of this. Starting with verses we’d come to expect from them leading up to an almighty burst of distortion and shouting at the end of "I am not going anywhere!". Vocalist Dimitri’s voice gives off gravel rarely found before this album's release before falling back

into its dreamy self closing out the evening. If HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE are not yet on your radar then we strongly suggest you sink some time into them now. Their ability as a band to create such vivid imagery and such striking music is one in a million.

Words: Spencer Cunningham

Photos: Emma Hurley