Joyful Noise, despite their undeniable presence as Fredericton’s funky mainstays for the past three years, are only just getting around to recording a debut album. In anticipation of the big release the band have offered up a live video teaser of one of the album’s tracks. Recorded live from The Recordery, the instrumental ‘Bertha’ is a nod to one of the band’s less-than-joyful noisemakers.
“It’s a loving tribute to a past guitar amplifier in the band, which made sweet sounds but was an incredible pain in the butt,” explains bassist Camilo Villamizar-Báez on the track’s ‘Bertha’ namesake.
“It was Corey [McNeill]’s first pro-grade guitar amp and it turned me of that specific brand for life. It was heavy, unwieldy, and no matter how many times it went in for service, it would always break again. I don’t want to throw anyone in the fire but it rhymed with ‘loogie’.”
Camilo V. describes ‘Bertha’ as one a cross between a simple funk standard and a 4-chord pop tune. At 4:21 it’s the shortest track on the album, which is unsurprising for a band known to wander between space jazz odysseys and funked-up video game theme songs.
But as Camilo notes ‘Bertha’ is designed to ease the listeners in before hitting the deeper grooves.
“It’s probably our most classic jam. I think it’s more of a comfortable appetizer. The album is pretty varied track to track.”
The track also marks a big milestone for the band who have their first occasion to record anything more substantial than a live video since Joyful Noise formed three years ago.
“We didn’t even finish writing the material for it until September or so. Takes a while to produce a JN number,” says Camilo.
The album, Cocoloco, is expected to see a digital release on May 9th, along with a vinyl funding campaign event, with hopes of seeing something physical by September.
Tour Dates:
May 5th, 2018 – Saint John Trade and Convention Centre – Extravabandza w/ Stephen Lewis and the Big Band of Fun, and Jamie Comeau and The Crooked Teeth.
May 18th, 2018 – Kennedy Inn, Saint Andrews NB – Paddlefest w/ Jerry Faye and The Falling Leaves