Desperate Journalist: No Hero (Fierce Panda)

Estimable post-punks resurface with magnificent fifth album

Released Sep 27th, 2024 via Fierce Panda / By Richard Lewis
Desperate Journalist: No Hero (Fierce Panda) Between the release of much adored 2021 LP Maximum Sorrow! and present set No Hero, estimable London indie rock conglomerate Desperate Journalist have been busy. The between album gap has produced exhilarating in concert set Live LP At JT Soar and a highly acclaimed run of gigs supporting indie rock doyens Suede.

With over a decade elapsed since the release of the band’s debut single Cristina and their post-punk, gothic, alt. rock alloy perfected, the quartet headed into the studio with a desire to mix things up. With a newfound emphasis on synths, another development is guitarist Rob Hardy stepping up to the producer role for the set, a role he fulfils superbly. Lead signer Jo Bevan said of No Hero before release, “Whenever we write something new, I generally want it to be simultaneously weirder and more pop than what we have done before”. Opening salvo Adah (the name of the second woman recorded in the Bible it turns out) achieves this aim first time out. Based around an Echo Beach style jangle pop guitar figure, the upbeat arrangement dovetails with the suitably Old Testament lyrics: “Evil all its sin is still alive”.

Bevan’s ear for a killer lyrical hook stronger than most writer’s choruses is much in evidence throughout the disc. The unsettling minor chords and jagged guitar interjections of Comfort: “In this abject century / You are not your memories”, reflected back in the cover art. A ripped up then reassembled photo of the singer on a landline telephone, dealing with past, burying it, ignoring it then reviving it however painful it might be is a central theme.

Evoking rolling countryside vistas seen from a passing train window courtesy of Caz Helbert’s motorik drumming, the title track works it's way to to a crescendo of synth textures and swirling vocal samples. The now extensive back catalogue and road miles logged is showcased in Desp Journo’s surefooted less-is-more dynamism, Simon Drowner’s basslines a model of hold and release, allowing tracks to build before scything in.

The sepulchural Silent, cloaked in doomy synths and sinister guitar shimmer matches the music with suitably lacerating lyrics: “And the ties that I destroyed / Like those ugly violent boys / I was hurting, but I was Hell”, concluding with what sounds like the bass guitar being burnt up in an inferno. Evoking Massive Attack at their claustrophobic 3am finest, Underwater locates a melodic hook amid the churning atmosphere. A tense, propulsive piece led by skittering, delay pedal guitar figures, lyrically 7 harks back to early landmark Happening with its mention of Shenandoah (a location in London?) and gives the impression of a track that will sound colossal live.

Recalling Radiohead’s In Rainbows era with its winding arpeggios and skipping drumbeats, one of the group's strongest singles to date Afraid blossoms into a glorious chorus, a plaintive decloration of "I love you / You're the only one who's listening". Similarly gentle, You Say You’re Lonely is the softest moment here, guitar and piano motifs framing Bevan’s outstanding vocals.

Where the brilliantly astringent Fault was a deliberately off-kilter lead single from Maximum Sorrow! Unsympathetic Parts 1 & 2 fulfils a comparable role here. Underpinned by chilly synth patinas and see-sawing bassline, the second part gives way to a gorgeous, Cocteau Twins worthy coda that deserves to last far longer.

Concluding in the sunshine, the subtly anthemic Consolation Prize sees the album close with a sliver of iridescent indie pop. Slightly ahead of time as the fourth quarter of 2024 is only just underway, calling this the album of the year is entirely reasonable. No More Heroes anymore? Desperate Journalist prove otherwise. 5/5