The Joykiller

"And now for something completely different..."

There comes a point in any musical genre where creativity is exhausted and the music begins to stagnate. The musical formula becomes so predictable that any idiot can pick up a guitar and imitate the rest of the crowd. It is at this point that the audience begins to salivate for the original excitement and innovation that turned them on in the first place. From the inception, the members of The Joykiller have dedicated themselves to being an innovative force, pushing the punk rock boundaries to their limits. For the most part, The Joykiller developed like any other punk band. They wrote and practiced their songs in a garage and slugged it out in small sweaty clubs. But from the beginning the band always offered more to their audience then the same old generic crap.

In '95 The Joykiller released their self-titled debut on Epitaph Records and instantly gained respect from the punk rock community, if for no other reason then its illustrious personal. The combination of Jack Grisham and then guitarist Ron Emory (T.S.O.L.) along with Billy Persons (Gun Club and Weirdoes) created expectations of a punk rock all-star band. However, what The Joykiller delivered with their first release was somthing much more. With the help of Ronnie King's (Tupac Shakur, Snoop Doggy Dog) fuzzed out keyboards the band delivered a pop-punk record with an exciting new twist.

The Joykiller followed up their debut success with the release of Static, an album that appealed to critics and fans alike. The album was so well received that influential Flipside Magazine named the band artist of the year in there '96 reader's poll. By the end of '96 there was little doubt that The Joykiller was well on its way to becoming an innovative force in alternative music.

In the fall of '97 the Joykiller returned to the studio for the third time with producer Thom Wilson. Their objectives where simple, make the record they wanted to hear and be true to themselves. The result was THREE, a record that separates The Joykiller once and for all from the rest of the punk rock pack. The album relies on a mixture of punk rock balls and sensitive pop structure to drive its sympathetically self-loathing love songs. THREE proves that The Joykiller are a band not afraid to push their emotions and passions to the fore front of their music and throw away all the expectations of what a punk band should be. The Joykiller have carved themselves out a musical niche all there own and in doing so have given their fans a versatile record that will shake the foundations of the pop-punk genre.