One of the coolest things about Sick Joy is that their sound far exceeds their size. Despite being a two-piece, the dark, grungy riffs and thumping drums leave nothing to be desired, and when topped with those slick, on-point vocal tones, their tunes are well worth the airtime on your playlists. Radio 1’s Rock Show thinks so, and so did the crowd at Oporto…

The cultivated noise carried all around the teeny-tiny venue, and although Sick Joy’s planned support act had gone AWOL, it didn’t take the pair much to get the room suitably warmed up. They performed with impeccably tight, abundant skill yet totally without ego, and there was a cool chronology to most of the setlist’s order. 

While the raucous ‘Dissolve Me’ was brought out fairly far in, that was actually the first song of theirs that I’d heard, way back when. And even though I’ve been really enjoying their freshest drop, ‘Hypodermic Sunshine’, and their meaty finale, ‘Painkiller’ was a total fist-pumper, their juiciest performances were probably of those tracks from the album. 

‘talking to the drugs’ and ‘don’t feel like dying’ demonstrated the ferocious fusion between both instruments, but ‘i’ve got more than i need (and i don’t have much)’ rumbled, thudded and, quite frankly, slapped just as impressively on stage as it does on the polished studio version. 

So if you’re considering catching Sick Joy while they’re on the road, do it! Leg one of their tour was a belter, and I’d guess it’s only going to get louder and prouder.