Album by Sick Joy

This one sits somewhere between hard-edged alt-rock and modern emo? I think? I don’t know. I’m no expert.

The guitars are chunky, the drums move fast and hit hard, and the vocals often follow that dynamic you hear in bands like Linkin Park — quiet, restrained moments that suddenly explode into big choruses and screams. It creates this constant feeling of pressure building and releasing.

It’s not really my genre, and some of the melodrama didn’t fully land for me, but there are definitely some strong moments here. “Nothing Good” sounds like it could easily be the big single. “Gone Missing” pulls things back into something quieter and more intimate, and it reminded me a bit of the moodier side of Nine Inch Nails. “Stockholm Flavour” probably captures the overall sound of the album best. Emotional, loud, and built around that push and pull between calm and chaos. I also liked “Video Game,” which leans more toward indie rock and has a great refrain: “when I die again, I’ll try again.”

What surprised me is that the record stretches a bit beyond the first impression it gives. After the opening half it settles into a grimier, darker alt-rock sound that sometimes reminded me of bands like Filter or even some of the moodier moments from Incubus.

It didn’t completely pull me in, but there’s definitely something here if that style speaks to you. And there are a couple of really solid songs here.

Verdict: Worth a Spin

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