Artist The Joy Formidable

In the grand tradition of no-bullshit record titles like Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Bigmuff and Big Black’s Songs About Fucking, The Joy Formidable’s big, roaring debut for Atlantic is titled, well, The Big Roar. But while all three albums have a taste for cutting to the chase and cranking the gain, The Big Roar keeps its buzzing bright and anthemic. Upping the record’s sunshine quotient: frontwoman Ritzy Bryan, a pixie-like figure of big eyes, whose even bigger voice cuts through the clouds of distortion like a beam of cooing light.

Updated 03/06/2012