Joe & The Shitboys

Joe & The Shitboys is a queer vegan shitpunk band inspired by an artwork, found in the basement of an old abandoned school, with the words ‘The Reson For Hardcore Vibes’ together with crude drawings of a gun, a bat, brass knuckles and a set of hedge shears, somehow perfectly encapsulates the subtle nuances between punk, satire, teenage angst/anger and earnestness. And that’s exactly, in so many words, what Joe & The Shitboys are all about.

Songs played during this set rarely last more than a minute – one, called ‘fuCk’, lasts two-seconds and comprises of a singular swear – and flit between energetic, hook-laden scrappy punk anthems and sometimes branch out into groovy territory, like on the ‘Closeted HomoFObe’. Meanwhile lead singer, Fríði, writhes across the stage for over 40-minutes fuelled with both anger at the injustices both home and abroad, and a wicked sense of humour. No-one is safe from their cheeky tongue and no-bullshit approach. 

After bashing through 27-songs in 40 minutes (including ‘If You Wanna Be A Cuck I’ll Be Your Bull’, ‘Legalize Everything’ and ‘Eat Ass You Fucking Cowards’), they return for a one-song encore: a cover of Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Sleep Now In The Fire’ – a song built on the injustices committed to Native Americans by invaders. You wonder if, one day, they’ll have an anthem of a similar level. – John Smith, NME