soft pensive joytrendysound

joytrendysound
mazzy
(poch, 2002)
www.joytrendysound.com

while i was listening to stealstealground’s debut, i dug out joytrendysound‘s cd to listen along with it. both of the bands are rather similar – they each have a girl and boy in their lineup, their english monikers are taken from their cantonese counterparts (joytrendysound actually sounds like “on the grass” in cantonese) and both bands play some kind of folksy music. even the band members are related – joytrendysound co-produced stealstealground’s album. moreover, both bands together reminded me of taiwanese singer summer lay’s early album, i am summer lay. hers was a collection of folk music, atmospheric spoken word tracks and songs in-between that blended the two forms.

stealstealground sounds a little like the more electronic songs of summer lay and joytrendysound sounds a little like the folksy ones, but there is one main distinction in terms of sound between the two hong kong bands. listening to stealstealground’s dark and quiet songs makes me feel like staring at the moon, counting dim stars and perhaps getting drenched and going emo in the rain. whereas, joytrendysound’s songs are quiet but fills me with regret like watching the last beam of sunlight disappearing before dusk or feeling lost on realising that the brilliant summer sun will not last when autumn comes. contrary to the band’s moniker, joytrendysound does not sound joyful or trendy at all.

the cover art is an overexposed polaroid-like shot of perhaps marble and ming of the band, looking pensive, walking across a road in the sun. the insert for my copy seems yellowed with age around the edges. is this part of the design? i am not sure, but it all adds to a sense of lost times, of being keenly aware that youth is not forever and adulthood is inevitable. the song titles reflect this pervasive mood. besides a rather pedestrian instrumental first track that is the weakest of the lot, all remaining four songs, particularly the lyrics, are exceptional. the wordplay is poetic, clever, yet affecting.

although still active in the scene, gigging and co-running the über indie label harbour records, joytrendysound has not had any new release, only contributing a few tracks to a few compilations since 2002. however, based on this sole release, joytrendysound is already my personal legend.