Desperate Journalist

Desperate Journalist is a London based four piece indie pop band that forges a distinct sound from components of '80s post-punk and '90s alt-rock music they lovingly reference. Some parts are recognizable from mid career Cure, others from The Smiths. The bass riffs that lead some of their songs provide a goth-like sheen while the shimmer in the guitars occasionally come across as dream pop-adjacent especially when the rhythm section drops the intensity a notch. These overt references have been waning from their music in their recent recordings, reduced to mostly musical tics at this point, in favor of a more anthemic approach they have adopted. Their vocalist Jo Bevan has a remarkable voice that is somewhere between Dolores O'Riordan (of The Cranberries) and Björk, when she was with The Sugarcubes, creating a strong center of gravity in their presentation.