No Joy Gets Little Love On Tour With Wavves and Best Coast

No Joy can seemingly do no wrong: a wave of hype made the Montreal quartet's debut album, 'Ghost Blonde,' one of last fall's most hotly anticipated records. Its release at the beginning of December was met with a wave of praise from critics. And now the band finds themselves the opening act for the one-two indie-rock punch of Wavves and Best Coast (Bethany Cosentino of the latter is apparently an ardent fan).

But when asked if the crowds on the tour have been receptive to No Joy's sound, guitarist Laura Lloyd doesn't paint the rosiest picture. "If confused looks on their faces is receptive, then yes, they have been," she tells Spinner. "They have younger fans than us, who maybe don't know our genre of music."

It seems shoegaze stalwarts like My Bloody Valentine -- which No Joy is often compared to -- just aren't finding space on the next generation's iPods. "There was a 13-year-old boy who came up to us after a show and said, 'I didn't know there was another band that sounded like my band.'" Not that Lloyd is really complaining, though. "It was really sweet," she says.

Watch No Joy's Video for 'Hawaii'
The fact that the group is even able to tour is still surprising to her considering No Joy barely even existed this time last year.

Introduced by their current tour manager, Lloyd and bandmate Jasamine White-Gluz had flopped around Montreal under various guises for years before taking an extended a break from music which saw White-Gluz head to Los Angeles for the winter. It was during this period that the pair started trading files back and forth for the songs that ended up on the band's debut seven-inch. "It's ironic that we got the itch after Jasamine left town," says Lloyd.

"None of this was intentional" is a standard response when probing Lloyd about the band, the dark, brooding nature of their songs or even their current tour. And the pair aren't about to take any of their success for granted. "Unloading [at the venue] in minus 40 weather is the only time I wish I was at home in a bubble bath," she jokes. "Next year is the year we get really big egos and develop diva-tendencies."