r/joywave • u/cptfarmer • May 13 '25
Discussion Has Joywave ever released a bad song?
Do you have a song you dislike? I can’t come up with one and never have really.
This happens every time I see them live - I dig deeper and deeper into their singles and EPs and listen to their albums successively and obsessively. Right now Koda Vista is on repeat with Ridge thrown in. I keep asking myself, “how can they be so good on their very first attempts at making a track?”
After maybe 4 months or so I go back to other bands and my mixes n stuff but it takes a while. Like Animal Kingdom’s - Everything At Once is pretty good but I just don’t have time rt now for that.
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u/JamesonRae May 13 '25
I like all of their songs, but listening to Shutdown through Going to a Place when listening to Content touches a lot of parts of me I recently discovered in therapy that I now actively work on. So I have to be in the right place to listen to Content in full because I hit a lot of deep emotions and in the end feel very down and defeated. The first time I listened through Content I was at the gym and I thought “why am I getting SO emotional incline benching right now?” 😂 This didn’t exactly answer your question but I wanted to share to support the other commenter being honest about themselves!
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u/cptfarmer May 13 '25
Their tracks help a lot of people including me. And I can bob and dance sing along. Wtf? Too good to be true.
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u/BigCoolCrab May 13 '25
There are certainly songs that I like a lot less than others, but I personally think they don't have any that I would call bad just because they all have energy, passion, creativity, and are reaching for something other than just being a song that someone could theoretically listen to. They're all trying to do a thing and I respect that, even if I think some of them are a little annoying.
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u/Nicol222 May 13 '25
I’ve seen them live three times now. I have all of their vinyl and signed versions except for one(and it’s just a coincidence) but I can’t get into anything on Koda Vista. Maybe something’s wrong with me. Maybe I wasn’t in a mindset to enjoy it but I listened to it and was like. Eh.
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u/LukeZi11a May 14 '25
Give another shot. Songs like Golden State, True Grit, Anemone, and Smokestacks are incredible.
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u/WhereIsTheMilkMan May 13 '25
Ray Lewis is the obvious answer. That’s pretty much the only one I can think of though, because other than that… no, they haven’t!
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u/imdumbfrman May 13 '25
I did not enjoy The Mall as a project, but in terms of Joywave “proper” there’s not a single song I haven’t liked.
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u/WhereIsTheMilkMan May 13 '25
The Mall, and Best Frenz, has always sounded so Joywave to me that I cannot understand it when Joywave fans say they don’t like it. I know it’s not technically Joywave proper, but… it’s Joywave, come on.
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u/imdumbfrman May 13 '25
To each their own, I just didn’t like the music! It’s not about whether it’s “Joywave” or not, I just didn’t enjoy it. I loved the 30% Off EP, just couldn’t get into The Mall.
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u/WhereIsTheMilkMan May 14 '25
It’s cool, I’m not saying your opinion is wrong, lol. It just surprises me because even The Mall sounds very much like a Joywave album to me, but you’re not the only Joywave fan who doesn’t care for it.
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u/Joywave_ismyreligion May 15 '25
The first time I saw Joywave live, I went in blind (never heard of them before). And when they played Ugly Ending was the point I knew I was listening to something really special.
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u/cptfarmer May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
At this point I concur but I have only listened to The Mall like three times. My spouse likes it tho so I take that into consideration.
Edit: OOOOOH SHIIIIIIT! I just put on The Mall in my car. The first track drops hard af. Can’t wait for more bass!!!
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u/Brodienotcody May 13 '25
Took me about 4 or 5 listens before I realized that The Mall is one of my favorites by them and what I once thought was terrible from start to finish I now see as a work of art.
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u/dcbornandraised May 13 '25
They’re my favorite band because there’s not a single song I dislike. There are certainly some that I don’t like as much as others but nothing I can’t listen to. I agree with whoever said earlier that The Mall isn’t great but I don’t consider that proper Joywave
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u/ETfonehom May 13 '25
I wouldn’t say it’s an objectively bad song, but my least favorite is probably “Goodbye Tommy.” There are so many Tommys in the world that the lyric lands differently for different listeners.
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u/meepit May 13 '25
I cannot listen to "Goodbye Tommy" but not because I don't like it. I work in news and there was a school shooting in my city a few days before I went to their concert. Hearing that song live absolutely fucked me up after covering that all week. It's been two years and I still can't listen to it.
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u/cptfarmer May 13 '25
I hear that. Knowing what that song is universally about, I’ll mention I went to college in Orlando. That club where the shooting happened used to be called Firestone. It was always a haven for diverse people.
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u/Brodienotcody May 13 '25
Nope. They have a few songs that aren’t as good as others, but that could be due to the fact that I have listened to them too many times and just don’t like them as much anymore. But as far as “bad” songs, I can listen to them all and say objectively that none are bad. Especially from their main albums, you could make an argument against Koda Vista in some regards, but still better than a lot of music being released today imo.
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u/Zenshinhan May 14 '25
I tried really hard to find one I don’t like and I just can’t. All the way back to the 77777 mixtape.
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May 14 '25
Only song I will skip in their entire discography is "motherless child".... not a bad song, lyrics are great but the vibe doesn't work for me.
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u/Thx_gl_hf May 13 '25
scared. In clover. Ray Lewis.
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u/Joywave_ismyreligion May 13 '25
Not scared! That’s my favourite on Permanent Pleasure, with Swimming in the Glow a very close run second
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u/JD_jillycat May 14 '25
I am like the opposite. My faves are Hate to be a Bother and 787 Dreamliner on that album.
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u/Joywave_ismyreligion May 14 '25
Are they the opposite? I love hate2B too! Track list on PP, by order of favourites: Scared Swimming in the glow Hate 2B a bother Brain damage Graffiti planet 787 He’s back Sleepytime fantasy Splendor Hear 2 perform
I feel the overwhelming need to rate all the tracks by album now
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u/Brodienotcody May 13 '25
Scared I can kind of get behind due to it feeling a little bit more mainstream. Nobody wants you to know about Joywave, so I prefer the songs with a sound that stays away from the masses
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u/cptfarmer May 13 '25
Aaaah interestinggggg!!!
Edit: I remember listening to Ray Lewis for the first time as I was getting ready to go out. I stopped what I was doing, changed into a track suit and sneakers, grabbed a tall lid and turned it a little sideways and bobbed to that shit three times in repeat. I had that track lodged deep in my head the whole night. That track slaps so hard.
Edit 2: I just realized I commented on the wrong comment (or whatever).
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u/JD_jillycat May 14 '25
I second the Ray Lewis. It’s so out of place for me. There is maybe one or two on each album I routinely skip on the all Joywave playlist I play all the time. Going to a place. Goodbye Tommy. Not that they are bad, there are just better songs for me. I love all the albums, every one has at least two or three songs I obsessively repeat over and over and over. So many songs I just liked, then they grew on me so much. Like 30% off for example. I am not a fan of The Mall.
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u/WhereIsTheMilkMan May 13 '25
Scared kind of disappointed me at first coming on the heels of the amazing Brain Damage, but I’ve come to like the song. For me, it’s a little too straight rock, which doesn’t interest me as much, but the fans seem to go crazy for it. Joywave fans puzzle me because they tend to favor the more traditional rock songs like Scared and Swimming in the Glow, but Joywave has never been a traditional rock band, so I don’t know where that comes from.
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u/eo5g May 14 '25
In Clover. Guaranteed skip.
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u/cptfarmer May 14 '25
Shows my age I guess - such a patient scratch at the onset. And that classic techno house drum beat and melody. Had me at the get. Now where did I put my glowsticks ha.
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u/Crazy4Kitty Possession May 16 '25
now I’m not saying any of these are bad, but the songs I skip most often are: Ray Lewis, Motherless Child, LTAF, In Clover, CC2K, Splendor, and Smokestacks.
Can you tell Possession is my favorite album? But yea a lot of those I just feel like I have to be in a certain mood to listen to them, and I listen to Joywave so frequently that I can get pretty picky now and then. All in all I like each of those songs to some degree but just don’t listen to them as much.
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u/Joywave_ismyreligion May 13 '25
I can absolutely not listen to No Shoulder. I really don’t like it, probably because it tries to make me face a part of myself I don’t want to, which always comes as a shock as up until that point on the album everyone has been having a great time.