Album Reviews

We last heard from San Francisco’s Joyride! when they released ‘Half Moon Bay’ back in 2016. Following that album, the band took a long break which allowed songwriter Jenna Marx to finish grad school and start a career in school counseling. It also left the band with plenty of time to write a shitload of songs, which ultimately led to the band’s new album, ‘Miracle Question’.

The band’s new album comes with a dozen songs worth of Jawbreaker-styled pop punk (‘Flyover States’, ‘The Archivist’) and Superchunk’s indie rock (‘In The Afterglow’, ‘The Regulars’). Whatever path they choose travel down, it always ends up sounding delightfully scrappy and high on energy, with buzzing guitars and tons of catchy hooks that seem to be kept in place with nothing but duct tape and endless amounts of charm.

It makes ‘Miracle Question’ an absolute pleasure to listen to with riffs and bouncy rhythms fading away just as fast as they popped up, making room for the next track. It’s all over in just 28 short minutes, but it’s all the time the band needs to work through some existential crises while also making one hell of an impression.