Current Joys redefine their sound on LOVE + POP: Review
Current Joys released their seventh full-length studio album LOVE + POP on Aug. 4, 2023. Current Joys is one of Nick Rattigan’s musical projects, the other being indie rock band Surf Curse, of which Rattigan is lead singer and drummer.
LOVE + POP follows Current Joys’ 2021 surf rock record Voyager, an album that has its moments for heavier rock than the musician had delved in with his previous musical endeavors. Its successor ditches this sound entirely for an experimental route infused with punk, indie and rock influences.
The album was created as a “collaborative” one, according to Rattigan, and half of its twelve tracks feature another artist. Opener “Walk Away as the Door Slams” is a cover of the 2016 track by the late Lil Peep.
Rattigan speeds the track up, opting for a faster punk-rock take of the originally-slow punk-infused trap track. YOUR ANGEL is featured as well, taking on the second verse with a poppier sound, bringing another dimension to it, overall.She appears on the next (and titular) track “LOVE + POP” as well, one of the finest indie tracks of the year so far. Utilizing a repeating guitar line throughout the song, it is a highlight both on the album and in Current Joys’ discography. “I think I still taste your lipstick / I feel so fucking sadistic,” Rattigan sings.
The lyrical content is witty, clever and straight to the point throughout the entire record but is displayed the best on the title track and “bb put on deftones,” featuring the lines “I don’t wanna fuck, I just wanna vibe / Baby, put on Deftones, look me in the eyes.” Anywhere else in Current Joys’ discography, this would probably feel too shocking to enjoy. Here, though, it works extremely well.
There are some calmer moments on the mainly fast-paced punk record. “I feel truth inside of u” recalls their earlier work in moody alternative music. Over hazy guitar riffs and minimal drum beats, Rattigan sings “Are you aware you are an artist? / So cut your hair and let the time slip.” The lyrics are reminiscent of the existentialism used on their tracks like “Kids” or “New Flesh,” retaining a currentness to it as Rattigan dwells on a partner who will not take her eyes away from her phone to look at him. “Moon Sickness” is another contemplative track, reminiscing on enjoying the dichotomy of positive and negative emotions. “I cherish the moments when you smile / Smile, baby, and just hold on awhile,” Rattigan pleads.
Intimate moments like these occur all across the record, like on its third single “CIGARETTES” which repeats the chorus consisting of “You’ve been drinking liquor and I’ve been getting high / Smoke too many cigarettes, I hope you never die.” Even on a more upbeat trap-infused song that ends in a scream and flurry of beats, Rattigan finds ways to depict deeply reflective moments with production fit for a stage.
The album sees Nick Rattigan’s Current Joys going from polished indie rock to experimental alternative. The result shows him doing it with ease, displaying a new side of his artistry that many alternative acts (and his own peers) would be timid to lean into.
LOVE + POP is available to stream and purchase everywhere now.