SuperHotJoy - The Willowvale, 19.05.07

So there I was, all decked out in my little Sharks vest, feeling a bit sorry for myself, a lot sorry for my team, and trying to decide whether I could extricate myself from my friends’ couch to go and watch the band at Burn. All that got thrown out the window when other friends arrived, high on Red Bull, vodka, and some team or other winning some football match or other (yes, there was a lot of sport going on yesterday!), and demanded that we join them at the Willowvale Hotel to watch Super Hot Joy. Let me just set the scene for those of you who are not from Surf City. The Willowvale is in a pretty dodgy neighbourhood and is not exactly what one would call a high class establishment. The last time I was there was when a friend decided on a whim that it would be fun to celebrate his birthday at this den of hookers and car guards. I spent the whole day getting hit on by some guy with no teeth. Fun times. Needless to say I was pretty sceptical about a repeat visit, but hey, I’m easily lead so off we went, me still in my Sharks vest and hoping I wasn’t about to wander into a coven of toothless Bulls fans.

I was also pretty sceptical about the band. I’m not gonna lie, but when another friend asked me to go and watch them recently I flat out refused. And not just because they have a bit of a silly name. The vocalist used to sing for Cynosure, and while I’m sure that counts in their favour for many other people, for me that’s a tick in the negative column. I’m just a little too rocky for all that frisky, perky, everybody-smile-like-your-face-is-gonna-split-open funk. Of course, said friend did not point out that the drummer for Super Hot Joy is none other than Mike Goddard of Perez and Love Jones fame. That may have changed my mind just a little, and not just because he’s eye candy. The man is arguably one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen, and last night there were moments when I think my mouth may have been hanging open just a little bit, watching him work his magic. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by Super Hot Joy. The singer is still a happy little man, but their sound is a lot edgier than that of Cynosure, and to give him his credit he does have a beautiful voice. They are a very tight unit and clearly the darlings of the Durban cool kids and musos. The Willowvale has never seen so many young people with shiny hair and artfully dishevelled outfits. I don’t think the bartenders quite knew what to do with themselves and promptly proceeded to run out of almost all palatable forms of alcohol. Lucky for the boys though, they got to drink great big fuck off quarts of Black Label and Milk Stout. Mmmm. Anyway. For the first couple of songs I had that annoying feeling when something is on the tip of your tongue but you just can’t remember it, as I tried to work out who these guys sounded like. It was driving me crazy. And then it hit me. The Police. Yes, I know, weird. But they really do have a very cool blend of The Police and early Red Hot Chili Peppers going on. People were dancing their little hearts out and absolutely loving every second of this band, despite the fact that it was sweltering in the room they were playing in.

So, I guess I learned my lesson about assumption being the mother of all….well you know how the rest of that goes. I think I heard that Super Hot Joy is touring soon, so if you get a chance you should definitely go and check them out, if only to see why everyone else loves them so much. Oh and you get to see Mike drum…a definite tick in the positive column!