Hailing from my hometown, the once disturbing, grim and decadent post-industrial city of Turin, North West of Italy, the three-piece Angst/Joy embodies not the most aggressive, angry, bitter side of its dual nature, if it still existed, but its elegant, romantic, often cold, nostalgic strains.
Established in 2020 by Simone (vox & guitar) and AL (bass, drum machine), joined by Federico on guitar in 2024, the band plays an atmospheric, melancholic and refined Dark Wave sound, subtly imbued with a gothic gloom, reminiscent of the early The Cure, The Chameleons, Sad Lovers And Giants and And Also the Trees 80s Post-punk aesthetics.
The new single, in anticipation of the forthcoming EP “First of many issues,” due out on September 16, is a song about how chasing “Paper Dreams” causes a relationship to self-destruct.
It thrums on the hypnotic vibrant throbbings of a moody melody-carrying, chorus-laden bassline and a metronomic, lashing drum machine, layered with a wistful, glistening fretwork of ethereal, echoing guitar melodies, around quieted gloomy male vocals, tormented by achingly piercing, wandering leads before unavoidably falling apart.
Keep up with ANGST/JOY:
photo by @canagliume
