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.