Biography
Rumors claim that the Welsh fuzz-pop group Joanna Gruesome first crossed paths as participants in anger management sessions. The lineup supposedly coalesced during a class assignment that split attendees into clusters tasked with writing and delivering songs to channel frustration and ease pressure. The accuracy of this origin story stays disputed, yet the five-piece began tracking material and staging shows in the early 2010s. They adopted the name as a pointed jab at indie harpist Joanna Newsom while steering their sound far from her literary folk approach, drawing instead on C-86 influences, riot grrrl spirit, and jagged shoegaze guitar textures. After issuing multiple singles and EPs, the band delivered its debut album, Weird Sister, via Slumberland Records toward the end of 2013. The record earned them a global audience, landed them on the cover of NME, and secured the 2014 Welsh Music Prize. Also in 2014 they issued split EPs with Trust Fund and with Perfect Pussy. Their follow-up LP, once more produced by MJ of Hookworms, pared the songs to essential hooks and screams in pursuit of maximum impact from each element. Peanut Butter appeared in May 2015 as a co-release on Fortuna Pop and Slumberland.