Maximum Joy

Maximum Joy are taking bookings for live performances.
Contact mail@londonfieldrecordings.com

About

The seminal 1980s post-punk band Maximum Joy reformed in 2015, spearheaded by founding member Janine Rainforth. They went on to release P.E.A.C.E. in 2019 and played the inaugural We Out Here that year.

Bristol band MXMJoY play to a loyal crowd. Seminal to the funk-punk movement in the early 80s, with tracks like Stretch proving anthems of the New York underground — their set packs a punch. Smooth bass lines fall into dub delays and parping horn parts, all providing a strong soundtrack to a sea of skanking revellers.

A pivotal point in Bristol’s dub-informed lineage — Pitchfork compared Maximum Joy’s sound to “one of the Slits backed by the Gang of Four.” Maximum Joy is as essential to the development of post-punk / funk as Liquid Liquid or A Certain Ratio.

Musically, the group’s use of complex percussion, horns, danceable bass lines, and overtly English female vocals built a bridge between the worlds of Afrobeat, reggae, avant-garde jazz, funk and pop. PopMatters