After Chicago alt-rock outfit The Joy Thieves’ boisterous April with the release of “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” and a bombastic video from Lumbra Productions, they present the second taste of their full-length album Apocalypse Pending, out June 5th via Armalyte Industries. “No Anchor” doesn’t just make noise, but detonates with intent, leaving scorch marks where complacency used to stand.
“No Anchor” examines how increased isolation in our modern world has pushed people toward amorality and a deeper sense of hopeless nihilism. Featuring Chris Connelly (Fini Tribe, Revolting Cocks, Ministry, Pigface) on vocals, this song articulates a world slipping free of moral gravity. Longtime mavericks at the edge of collapse, the band captures the zeitgeist with such precision.
While the first track vents our collective fury at a world where corporate giants and billionaires operate with total impunity, this new single shifts the lens toward the resulting decay of the individual, exploring a chilling world where the absence of a moral “anchor” leads to total societal and personal dissolution.
Revolving around musicians and producers Dan Milligan and James Scott, a.k.a. Joy Thieves Productions, this is a musical supergroup that includes current, former, and touring members of Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, Pigface, RevCo, PIG, David Bowie, Blue October, Machines of Loving Grace, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Naked Raygun, Foetus, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Pegboy, Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps and more.
“These days, it seems like people are capable of being pushed or tempted to exist in a state where they are alone. No moral compass. No ethics. No empathy. No forgiveness. No anchor. In a society where guilt seems to be gone, people can act however they want,” says Chris Connelly.
Dan Milligan adds, “When I was writing the music for ‘No Anchor,’ I purposefully used ever-changing, off-kilter guitar riffs that seem to stray farther and farther from the song’s key as it progresses. Because the music never truly repeats, or settles down, it creates the sickening sense that everything is unresolved, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Since signing with London alternative-industrial label Armalyte Industries in 2018, The Joy Thieves have delivered 11 critically acclaimed releases. Apocalypse Pending is the newest addition, produced, engineered and mixed by Joy Thieves Productions at Populist Recording + Mastering.
Joy Thieves Productions crafts their surprisingly cohesive signature sound from the contributions of its ever-growing 80+ roster of members, drawn from a diverse range of genres, including industrial, rock, punk, darkwave, hip hop and experimental music. Together, they produce a sound created by “all of us, and yet, none of us.” Creating a sound all their own, their music is aggressive, yet precise, confrontational, but refined, and harsh, yet melodic.
This new song cycle began with producer-drummer Dan Milligan re-recording iconic hip hop breakbeats with modern drum sounds. “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” began exactly that way, with a modern reimagining of one of the most famous breakbeats of all time, “Ashley’s Roachclip” by The Soul Searchers. This formed the basis upon which the entire track was built.
For a band with members spread all over the world, The Joy Thieves’ music feels like it could have only been made in Chicago. Anchored by their love of industrial rock, their music immediately outgrows the restrictions of the genre by stretching into new realms, creating a sound that both honours the past and pushes its evolution into the future.
“No Anchor” is available from digital music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” can also be found. The Apocalypse Pending album, now available for pre-order, will be released on June 5th.
“No Anchor” written by Chris Connelly and Dan Milligan
Produced, engineered and mixed by Joy Thieves Productions at Populist Recording + Mastering, Wheaton, IL
Mastered by James Scott at Populist Recording + Mastering
Additional production by Derek Christopher at Penfield Studios, Mark Pistel at Room 5 Studios, Jeff Harris at JH Studios, Steven Archer at House of Wolves, Dee J Nelson at DJN Music, Jane Jensen at Autozen Music and DJ Darryl Hell at HellLab Studios
Art direction by Destiny Justic Scott
Original artwork by Charlie Athanas for Burning City
Released via Armalyte Industries
Artist studio photos by Derick Smith
The Joy Thieves on the net
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Chris Connelly on the net
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