The shoegaze revival thing can feel really played out at times. There seems to be no shortage of bands willing to adopt the pattern of layering waves of distortion over barely decipherable vocals oohing and aahing. It can be hard to differentiate the innovators from the pretenders. You figure all of these bands listened to either My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins or some combination of the three. But very few of them bring anything new to the table.

No Joy, in an attempt to avoid being lumped in with the other revivalists, label themselves “doom gaze”. With their most recent full-length “Wait To Pleasure” they really set themselves apart from the pack. Opening track “E” contains a thunderous riff that pummels its listeners into submission through a steady build of volume and intensity. Vocalist/guitarist Jasamine White-Gluz effectively layers her vocals to sound like there’s hundreds of copies of her. What makes the record a real winner is just how much variation there is on it. The band utilizes a roaring wall of sound (“Slug Night”) as effectively as a dream-like collage of hushed whispers (“Pleasure.”) Album standout “Prodigy” has an especially sweet melody to it while “Lizard Kids” and “Ignored Pets” move at breakneck speed.

I wouldn’t call No Joy the most original band in the world. They do wear their influences on their sleeve. But they’re far from a one-trick pony. I found “Wait To Pleasure” to be one of those records that I kept returning to over and over again. I even declared it “Best Album of 2013” on one of my year-end lists. One year later, this still holds true.

If you missed out on “Wait to Pleasure” the first time around, it’s not too late to catch up.