Spanish Love Songs

Despite their name, the LA-formed indie-punk band aren’t known for forays into the uplifting. Since 2013, the quintet have instead made hay on the backs of a string of beloved albums – 2015’s Giant Sings The Blues, 2018’s Schmaltz and 2020’s Brave Faces Everyone – lauded by critics and fans alike for their richly personal, no-holds-barred lyricism awash in existential dead, hyper-personal cultural ruminations and attempts to answer life’s big questions.

So when presented with NO JOY, their fourth full-length and second for Pure Noise Records, it’s easy to understand the reaction of Slocum’s bandmates – at first blush, its title alone another rain cloud in a sky of perpetual impending doom. But for all its foreshadowing, the LP actually marks, in its own unique way, the most joyous collection of material Spanish Love Songs have ever released.