The Band Of Holy Joy

The Clouds That Break The Sky

Definitive 3-CD round-up of south London marginwalkers’ early outings for Flim Flam.

The Band Of Holy Joy existed in a solitary space. Founded by displaced Geordie Johny Brown while sharing a New Cross squat with Test Department, they pointedly eschewed guitars for cheap pawnshop instrumentation (harmoniums, accordions, violas, Salvation Army drums) allied to primitive electronics. Emerging hot on the heels of Portastudio demo box set (More) Favourite Fairytales For Juvenile Delinquents, these three discs trace their frenetic transformation from loony industrial disco into defiant Brechtian punk-folk cabaret. Raw emotions run rife on Mad Dot, Fishwives and Who Snatched The Baby?, microtragedies that suddenly slash from heartbreak to violence yet still summon warmth in the wilderness. The collection reaffirms Brown’s status as a vivid chronicler of seamy London life with the forensic precision of Gordon Burn.