I do enjoy perpetuating classical literary devices, however when it comes to puns sometimes I just cannot control my immaturity. And so, here’s my first installment of Unheavy Herring where I take a look at releases that I do enjoy, but are not the slightest bit heavy, crushing, smashing, battering or whatever other contrived adjective I normally implement. I bring you the psyched out dream pop stylings of DAY JOY.

Peter Perceval (bam, alliteration and extreme capitalization), one half of the DAY JOY duo, posted this on my Google+ page last night. This record encountered no trouble catching my attention visually with the exceptionally elaborate cover art displayed neatly in the middle of their tasteful Bandcamp layout. I wish my dreams consisted of shit like this, elephants gracefully striding across ambiguous mountainous regions next to a giant terrestrial moon. Usually they’re about crashing a car, bowling alley mishaps or other unfortunate situations but I digress.

This short release crosses the finish line at just over eight minutes and does a fantastic job remaining cohesive and complete within such a narrow window. The first track, entitled “Go to Sleep, Mess”, progresses as a gradual climb through distantly mixed rudimentary percussion, harmonized choral vocals that seamlessly join hands with delayed saturated guitar tracks. The texture isn’t meticulous here, but it succeeds in enthralling the listener with it’s captivating congenital pacing. I never felt rushed, and rather, blended into the environment created through the headphones.

This short stint exemplifies taking your time even when you have less than minutes. Less is more with DJ, and with being a duo there is only one definite way I can think of the minimize further. That notion is unnecessary, because these two mellow dudes share some interesting and elegant musical chemistry. Earlier I was listening to WPRK and Jessica Pawli was on the air mentioning that Orlando has some of the best musicians residing here, and it’s delightfully coincidental that I should notice an additional affirmation thereof just minutes afterward.

This article cites more literary devices than the average number of biblical allusions regarding Tim Tebow elicited on Facebook per second. Not per minute though, that number still remains insurmountably inappropriate and in the fairness of good taste, and interest of minimalism DJ successfully manifests, I dare not rival that tally.

Click here to check out New Ordinary by DAY JOY on their Bandcamp page (FREE DOWNLOAD).

Click here to follow DAY JOY on Facebook.

- Jared Oates Haggard