Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"It's alive! New York City's Dead Blonde Girlfriend makes folk music for grumpy punks. Their rootsy, streetwise tales of love and loss capture what it means to be alive and alienated in the big city. Remember that Dylan was considered a punk in his day."
Download.com
"Defiant lyrics questioning the merits of existence without love ...It is akin to being handed a crude bloody heart wrapped in the prettiest pink wrapping paper with cupid posing proactively all over it. Deep stuff; dive in and enjoy the depth."
Contact music
"Combining the fuzzy guitars of new wave, the rustic and friendly vocals oft seen in the folk genre and most importantly firing deep, witty and dark punk style lyrics reminiscent of the late great Joe Strummer, Dead Blonde Girlfriend eclectically quench diverse musical thirsts."
Glasswerk National U.K.
"Dead Blonde Girlfriend, reminiscent of Girlfriend in a coma caught our eye. Musically the band is punk rock with acoustic guitars"
New York Post
"Punk as Fuck"
Village Voice
"Overwhelmingly honest. It's not rockstar emotion by numbers. He is a fucking genius. Grand statement? Yes, obviously. But it's so true. This guy is excellent!"
Careless Talk Costs Lives
"Antifolk's punkiest exponent, Joie/DBG delivers attitudinal, acoustic punk vignettes with a gruff voice and aggressive guitar action. His song "Bleecker Street" explains the anti in antifolk."
Time Out London
"Hovering between the comical and the anguished his song intros bordered on stand up, and his Iggy like energy wrenched emotion through enormous eyelined brown eyes. He has the ability to write lyrics that pinch you, Funny and honest, angry and sad, songs explode intense and intent, you have to watch him."
Trakmarx.com
"A Dave Van Ronk type of songster able to get truly meaningful in his songs"
N.J Coast News
"New York anti-folk heroes wear cynical paeans on their sleeve like black hearts cooked for the audience"
CMJ 2001
"His guttural crooning sounds sweet, charged with his trademark mix of isolation and hope, which truly must be experienced"
Shout Magazine
"Local favorite Antifolk, acoustic punk performer Joie/DBG frantically strums his acoustic guitar, sings gruffly and is made to be heard in a bar in an adequately lubricated state"
Time Out New York
"Raspy-voiced punk performer"
Baltimore City Paper
"Smashing performance in the punk-folk genre"
The Aquarian
"He can do 8 songs in 2 minutes he plays pretty fast"
WBAI radio
"He plays punk songs of frustration, railing rage and eternal questionings in a blur of strumming on an acoustic guitar amped to 11"
musicdish.com
"This is angst-ridden punk rock carried out wholly on an aggressively played acoustic guitar. Bristly vocals front these staunchly amelodic songs"
Listen.com
"Brilliant, More Tragedies and Horror stories about being a Starving musician. Cool!"
N.Y. Hangover
"This folk-punker writes tunes that rant on Bleecker Street, the music business, and growing old"
CMJ - Quote Sheet
Discography
Dead Blonde Girlfriend -Art Monkey Records
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Just like Bob Dylan, The Ramones, Johnny Cash, and countless others who have written whole chapters of musical history, acoustic punk performer Joie Blaney has written his chapter in the clubs, streets, and cafes of New York's infamous East Village and beyond. Now it is time to take it to another level. This time he is bringing friends. Dead Blonde Girlfriend is that new level.
With all of the critical acclaim (Time Out New York & London, Dazed and Confused, Mojo, New York Magazine, Contact Music and others) for Joie/DBG (a.k.a. Joie Blaney, the driving force of Dead Blonde Girlfriend) it is easy to see why he has sold out five of his self-released records. He toured solo in the U.K to packed houses and was the opening act for Rough Trade/Sanctuary recording artists the Moldy Peaches in Europe for six weeks. Joie also has one of his songs featured on the Rough Trade/Sanctuary Antifolk compilation. As well as music on MTV and A&E cable networks.
"It was time for a change. I think I took the solo guitar Antifolk/Acoustic punk thing as far as I could" explains Joie. "That's why I put a band together consisting of J. Brown on bass, Justin Greville on Drums and fresh from the New Orleans scene James Mercer on electric guitar. These guys make it feel like a band." They have been working with the production team of Paul Kostabi (Dee Dee Ramone, Youth Gone Mad) and Jason Carmer (Third Eye Blind, The Donnas, Run DMC) bringing some of Joie's songs together in band form. Joie says "I love working with producers and recording with the band. It is quite an experience for me taking solo acoustic songs and adding more instruments to them. It brings out other elements emotionally and sonically. To me a good song will always be a good song, no matter what you do to it, laughs Joie. You can see for yourself on their self titled CD released on Art Monkey Records, home of The Willowz, Psychotica and Dee Dee Ramone. The album gives you the full spectrum of recording with Jason Carmer and Paul Kostabi in San Francisco. To working at the legendary Funhouse lo-fi studio in the East village with Jerry Teel. ”When you listen to our record, you can hear that something special is going on” Joie adds “ You’re not quite sure what it is but you are dying to find out with every listen.”
In an era where bands act way too cool and write mindless songs that sound so predictable, it is time for something new and different. "Most bands wear their influences on their sleeves. They look and sound so retro and play it off as being original and hip." Joie adds, "In this band we can’t or won’t do it." Dead Blonde Girlfriend is a band that lives for the moment while not getting lost in it. Reflecting upon the past but not living in it. Rise, fall, and redemption are what Dead Blonde Girlfriend's poetic songs are about. Many emotional themes are felt throughout the music as they mood swing you from a full on barrage of sound to an unexpected silence that leaves you speechless. Honest, confessional, vulnerable and introspective lyrics are mixed with a little sadness and hope of trying to understand the cruel and insane beauty of life and everything that goes with it. "To me lyrics are so important in a song. I want these songs to be a voice in the void we call pop culture. Words and feelings you can identify and sing along with," explains Joie. One listen to the songs of Dead Blonde Girlfriend and you will never look at music the same way again.
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