Expect the unexpected. What at first may walk in line may soon meander down routes that lead you to places of joy and exuberance. Expansive lyrics cover the mutilated mundane to the gleefully abstract, on a backdrop of gritty guitars, soulful sax and jazz-beat percussion, The Joker & The Thief like to walk their own way.
After years of playing live – from the 100 Club, Koko and Ronnie Scottʼs to Glastonbury, Hop Farm and the top of Londonʼs Primrose Hill – The Joker & The Thief finally presented their debut release in 2011 – Secret Ballroom. Self-recorded and produced over four weekends in the trio’s basement, the five-track EP creeps from atmospheric beginnings to bombastic sonic explosions, focusing on their authentic, rootsy sound combining powerful voices, bellowing saxophone, foot-stomping rhythms and gutsy guitars. The record has enjoyed praise from press and fans alike and airplay on Radio 2, NME, Q and BBC London and NME launched their new website with the bandʼs “I Do Too” clip.
“Our shows have always been messy, chaotic and with lots of improvisation, so it seems strange to capture our sound in some sort of permanent form. I hope weʼve managed to do that and maintain the raucousness and spontaneity you get from being in the same room as us. Weʼre very proud of these songs, theyʼve morphed and grown out of hundreds of performances and now they exist even when weʼre not playing them, which seems bizarre, but exciting too…”
Named after their early fascination with Dylan and Hendrix, the band of childhood friends, who formed when they were five, draw their influences from a number of styles. “When asked, we sometimes say we play soul music. Thereʼs an obvious blues influence in a lot of our stuff but we listen to gospel, rock ʻnʼ roll, psychedelia, folk, new stuff, old stuff, weird stuff, spoken word, vaudeville … We all remember seeing the Tiger Lillies in Shockheaded Peter when we were about nine years old and I think the offbeat peculiarity of an act like that is very important to us.
Dan, Justin and Josh have stunned audiences with their musical bravado and performance. The lyrics get under your skin, rewriting the love songs of the past with a modern and individual twist and the music grabs you by the collar with its incessant passion dripping out of every note.
“The real stars of 2011 … Theyʼre the kind of act you could put in front of any crowd of any age, anywhere in the country, and people would get into it straight away” The Evening Standard.
“Causing quite a stir and tipped for great things” NME.
“Rootsy rhythm & blues and the singerʼs got an amazing voice” Goldierocks.
“Rip-roaring trio” Clash Magazine.
“How often do you stumble across a new band and find the entire crowd cheering for more? The Joker & The Thief are terrific musicians with great tunes – and in a world of sour-faced, over-earnest indie-kids they really know how to put on a show” Steve Merchant.
“The band went down so well at Glastonbury that they ended up playing every night, eventually closing the campfire on Sunday night with a set that included improvised songs from crowd suggestions … With Radio 1 support from Huw Stephens, 6Music and XFM plays under their belt, The Joker & The Thief are sure to have a fruitful summer” Glasswerk.
Dan: vocals, percussion.
Justin: guitar, kick-drum.
Josh: saxophones, accordion, saw, other stuff.
