Hitch

I bought this album today but I've been listening to it on Pandora all week, so I feel like I've gotten to know it a bit already. It's really good. I have been a fan of TJF for a while now. I was a little worried about this album because I had read a couple reviews saying Hitch is a letdown. It is definitely not! You can tell they've grown and there is a variety of material, but they're still doing what they do best. Most of the songs are really long (another complaint I saw in the reviews), but I haven't found that they feel like they're dragging on forever. It feels right for them to be as long as they are. If you liked their other albums a lot, you will probably like this one too! I think it's great!

Their song This Ladder Is Ours is what drove me to Amazon to see what else the band had done, after listening to Hitch I came back for another and now (some 24 hours later) have everything they have done including some of the songs which are so good they richly merited having different arrangements done, some are very different arrangements, a few are acoustic and several are live. As another reviewer posted Ritzy is dazzling with an audience. The world is a better place for having The Joy Formidable in it.Their live music is a set of great recordings which isn't an easy thing to do and their studio records are very well produced without being over-produced which allows a certain amount of live playing and passion to come through that is often missing from a studio produced albums over-produced which takes all of the genuine human emotion of the their playing and singing and otherwise giving such albums a sort of canned sound to them.

This is by far the best album I've purchased all year. If you're already a fan of The Joy Formidable, then you'll love it. For those new to the band, they have a fantastic melodic singer, intriguing guitar riffs, subtle and clever use of synths (seriously, you have to look for it to know it) and movements - their songs are more than just a 2 minute punk song with repeating refrains but actually have distinct movements punctuated by the aforementioned intriguing guitar riffs.

12 tracks of mainly indie rock! The vocalist sounds very much like the gal who used to sing for Curve! Thanx!

Oh my goodness this album is so good. The only drawback is the track names aren't burned onto the side so it won't show you the title of the track on your stereo. Still Ritzy my lord.

After a magnificent debut and ambitious sophomore release, The Joy Formidable has finally graced us with their third album. Hitch is a beast, clocking in at nearly 70 minutes, and demands patience as well as emotional investment to really maximize all it has to offer.The opening two tracks should feel familiar to fans of the previous albums. "A Second in White" and "Radio of Lips" are the kind of thrilling, driving rock songs you'd expect and they set the atmosphere for the darker, more introspective breakup album that follows. "The Last Thing on My Mind" is where things begin to change, swapping antithetic riffs for a more classic rock sound. It's an interesting choice for a lead single, both in terms of its stylistic departure and also because very few songs on the rest of the album sound like it. From here the album twists and turns through thoughtful ballads ("The Gift", "Underneath the Petal") to all-out rockers ("Running Hands with the Night", "Blowing Fire"). One track that I want to specifically point out is "The Brook"; with its sinister chords and haunting atmosphere it manages to be one of the album's best moment, displaying the true range that this band can deliver.The length of this album may deter those hoping for a more immediate experience, as well as the progressive song lengths that may or may not be justified depending on your tastes. For those willing to dive in I heartily recommend Hitch. It's not only another fantastic release from the trio but also one of the best albums of 2016 so far. The ambition of this group remains impressive and with each release they branch out a little further while retaining what made them so special in the first place.

I wasn't sure at first, but after countless listens this has really grown on me, and I'm now sure it's even better than  Wolf's Law . More consistent, perhaps, in tone and quality, with some haunting classic TJF moments and some experiments with new styles and textures (wow, isn't "Last Thing On My Mind" brilliant: catchy, sexy, ambiguous...). The first track is too major for me, but the album then takes off, answering Wolf's 1-2 punch with a 2-3-4 that I could just loop over and over...if the rest of the album wasn't so good, that is. The songs are almost all longer again this time around, which seems more natural for this band, and I can't see how this could disappoint fans old or new. Wolf's Law

Amazing. I am in love with this band and the emotions their songs arouse. Having just discovered them this album has become my favourite . Great melodies in such powerful songs. I can't stop humming them . Thank you TJF for restoring another music fan's love for rock/pop music .

Excellent album from the under rated welsh rockers containing some real classic riffs and catchy tunes.

I think this is their best yet and I really loved Wolf's Law!

Good