Night of Joy at the Meadowlark

A few years back, there was a charming dance-pop band called the Hot House, and after the band broke up, its bass player, Bree Davies, moved to Brooklyn for a while. When she returned, she formed Night of Joy with guitarist Valerie Franz, who shared her unique taste in —...

By Tom Murphy

February 25, 2010

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A few years back, there was a charming dance-pop band called the Hot House, and after the band broke up, its bass player, Bree Davies, moved to Brooklyn for a while. When she returned, she formed Night of Joy with guitarist Valerie Franz, who shared her unique taste in — and vision for — music. The result was a musical collaboration that sounded like Davies and Franz had taken the buoyant, outré pop of the early Breeders, the post-punk minimalism of Young Marble Giants and the spidery end of Television's guitar work and combined it with the latter's sharp but palpably emotive vocals. Somehow stark yet tender, bracing yet comforting and jagged yet gentle, the brilliance of Night of Joy (due Saturday, February 27, at the Meadowlark) is in its blending of contradictions into a compellingly palatable whole.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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