Joe Maxi – Dublin’s new-age answer to Pixies – Debut EP “The Game” out this Friday 22nd

Arriving off the back of an extensive 2024 UK/IRE tour and the announcement of new intimate Irish dates to cope with demand, (including a headliner at Dublin’s Workman’s Club on the day of release) the launch of ‘The Game’ lays down yet another marker of Joe Maxi’s rampaging, runaway success, as they enter into their next exhilarating chapter.

Fusing elements of heavy guitar music, spoken word and breakbeat into a euphoric and frightening finished project, recorded against the backdrop of bleak landscapes and humdrum boardroom melodrama, Joe Maxi have shown another evolution in their already confrontational and capricious sound. Few bands can boast a sound as refined and attuned to the complexities of modern living as Joe Maxi. 

Take the first single released from the record, ‘Butterfly’: An uncompromising slice of astral rock, delivered with a Talking Heads swagger and all the jittering, stop-start elegance of a giraffe walking on a tightrope. The guitars are metallic, the beats seemingly increasing in speed, the bass growling throughout. Yet the most uneasy moment is saved for the end – when the entire track threatens to distort amid the frenetic violence, thrown from the mosh pit and absorbed once more, then again, then again. 

This intensity is maintained across each track on ‘The Game’, including the massive title track itself. Joe Maxi display various shades of darkness, flitting between weirdly anthemic dancefloor bangers (‘Shift’), straight up post punk/doom rock (‘The Game’) and even glorious indie-haven in the mesmerising ‘There’s Still Time’.

Joe Maxi are a joyous prospect, despite the uncompromising gloom. Their tetchy, talkative brand of art-punk makes them anomalies in a city which rarely favours the abstract over the elemental, but they are a band impossible to ignore. It is this outsider’s vantage which precisely makes ‘The Game’ so endearing and electrifying.

Discussing ‘The Game’ as a single, frontman Mikey Fowler said, “We’re beyond excited to share this one—it’s hands down one of our most thrilling songs yet. In a world that feels more tangled by technology, feeling like a simulation every day, we want this track to be a reminder to take the leap, to play the game, and to embrace the chaos with us.” 

Despite a career consisting of just three independently released singles prior to ‘The Game’, their reputation as one of Ireland’s most explosive live acts is undoubted and earned through gut busting dedication to their craft. At their last headline Dublin show in Bello Bar, punters were turned away at the door due to overcrowding, whilst those who managed to make it into the venue were transported to a raucous, unfiltered alt-rock show, complete with foundation shaking mosh pits galore. 

The same happened in Cork, Edinburgh, Belfast, Limerick and more. To sell a headline show out so comprehensively is a testament to the band’s allure; an unequivocal piece of proof that something is happening in the depths of Dublin….

Photo credit – press photo