Even though it was officially announced on April 1 that No Joy would cover 311’s 1995 hit “Down,” shoegazers No Joy weren’t kidding around. The cover debuted at 3:11 a.m. Friday exclusively on Bandcamp as a part of Bandcamp Friday.
when I make a promise I keep a promise https://t.co/7ZMTpEq2eE
— NO JOY (@nojoy) April 2, 2021
In case you missed it, Bandcamp has been waiving their revenue shares on all music purchases on the first Friday of each month since the start of the pandemic. This allows more money to land in the pockets of artists in a time that has hit the music industry hard. No Joy, however, is using the boost in revenue to benefit Butterfly, a support network for Asian and migrant sex workers. All of the profits from their “Down” cover will go to the organization. Additionally, the profits from the T-shirts on their Bandcamp page will go to “orgs providing support and action in Black communities” according to No Joy’s Twitter.
Besides being for a good cause, No Joy’s 311 cover is worth the listen on the merit of its wonderful wackiness alone. The hypnotic, fuzzy rendition of “Down” sounds almost as if it’s being half-remembered in a dream, with Jasamine White-Gluz performing the verse lyrics almost conversationally, layered to the point of the words being inscrutable. There’s a guest vocal courtesy David Mitchell of Bas Relief and Gulfer that sounds a bit like someone lazily singing the chorus of the song to remind you that 311 exists. It’s a delightfully unconventional reimagining, born from a tweet honoring March 11 as 311 day.
Check out “Down” and the rest of No Joy’s Bandcamp goodies here. You can revisit No Joy’s 2018 Daytrotter session below.
