Joywave has unveiled an incredibly powerful new companion video for their new single, “Like A Kennedy,” available via Cultco Music/Hollywood Records. Directed by Dear Mr. Quistgaard (tUnE-yArDs, Everything Is Recorded), the clip sees the Rochester-based band staging a surreal reenactment of the infamous Zapruder film, the shocking assassination played out on repeat in a seemingly endless hyperloop akin to our own unstoppable pattern of gun violence.
“Nobody is surprised by the violence and no action is taken each time that it occurs,” says Joywave founder Daniel Armbruster. “The violence is allowed to just continue and continue and continue. Obviously that is very relevant to where we’re at now. Every time there’s another mass shooting, all these people die, and you know, thoughts and prayers. And nothing changes.”
Produced at Joywave’s own studio in Rochester, NY, by founder Daniel Armbruster, arranged by Armbruster and his fellow band members Joseph Morinelli, Paul Brenner, and Benjamin Bailey, and then mixed by Dan Grech-Marguerat (The Killers, Liam Gallagher, Lana Del Rey), “Like A Kennedy” offers a clear display of the acclaimed band’s evolution from the basement to the big stage, to their current role as full-fledged pop iconoclasts, fearlessly assimilating genres, motifs, and big ideas into its own one-of-a-kind identity.
“I think a lot of people will probably try to fit this song into some type of political narrative,” says Armbruster in an exclusive Audio Commentary (streaming song alongside the song HERE), “but that’s really not the point. It’s a song about complete exhaustion and media burnout. It’s an anti-chaos song. Every screen you walk by DEMANDS your attention. Everything is BREAKING NEWS in all caps. It’s a really difficult time to think about the mundane small-scale things that have been the focus of human existence until very recently. I don’t think people should check out, but I think it’s beneficial to at least zoom out and not take the bait every time. It feels like everything is designed to keep us enraged 24 hours a day. We deserve a little sanity.”
Joywave just appeared at Dover, DE’s Firefly Music Festival and are currently hard at work wrapping up their eagerly awaited third full-length LP. The band are celebrating the album with a very special series of intimate live performances called “The Possession Sessions.” The shows began last week in the band’s hometown of Rochester, NY, and continue with exclusive appearances in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and London. Tickets are on sale now. For complete details and ticket availability, please see https://joywavemusic.com.
In addition, Joywave will light up a number of upcoming summer festivals and radio events, including appearances at Chicago, IL’s Taste of Chicago (July 13), Fayetteville, AR’s Free Summer Concert Series at JBGB (July 18), Kansas City, MO’s Coors Light Block Party (July 19), Redmond, WA’s 107.7 The End Presents Summer Camp (August 10), and St. Louis, MO’s 105.7 The Point (August 16).
JOYWAVE
“THE POSSESSION SESSIONS”
JULY
9 – Los Angeles, CA – The Moroccan Lounge
11 – Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere (Zone One)
13 – Chicago, IL – Taste of Chicago *
18 – Fayetteville, AR – Free Summer Concert Series at JBGB *
19 – Kansas City, MO – Coors Light Block Party *
AUGUST
10 – Redmond, WA – 107.7 The End Presents Summer Camp *
NOVEMBER
20 – London, UK – The Lexington
* FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE