Artist

Joanna Gruesome

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As legend would have it, the members of Welsh fuzz-pop band Joanna Gruesome all met while attending anger management classes. The band allegedly formed out of an exercise that broke the class into groups to compose and perform songs as a way to manage tension and reduce stress. Whether this somewhat far-fetched tale of origin is true or not is unclear, but in the early 2010s, this quintet began recording and playing out live, taking their band name from an especially bratty pun on indie harpist <a href="spotify:artist:4gn6f5jaOO75s0oF7ozqGG">Joanna Newsom</a>'s name and making music that bore no common threads to hers whatsoever, opting instead for the influence of the C-86 scene, the attitude of riot grrrl, and abrasive shoegaze guitar tones rather than literary folk modes. The group released several singles and EPs before their debut, Weird Sister, arrived on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland+Records%22">Slumberland Records</a> in late 2013. The album won them many fans and followers throughout the world, they made the cover of the NME, and even won the 2014 Welsh Music Prize. That year they also released two split EPs, one with <a href="spotify:artist:1MUKCI5HmTVIucSwcaH6sV">Trust Fund</a> and the other with <a href="spotify:artist:1xvC1JOx3XYXNk2WqfFLxC">Perfect Pussy</a>. The band's next album was produced by MJ of <a href="spotify:artist:7c5Qvy0cv7VGzRnUSwnSnj">Hookworms</a> (as was the first) and featured the band distilling their sound down to its core elements of hooks and screams, hoping to wring the most out of each. Peanut Butter was co-released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Fortuna+Pop%22">Fortuna Pop</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Slumberland%22">Slumberland</a> in May of 2015. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi

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