Los Angeles band Current Joys is the lighter project of Surf Curse’s Nick Rattigan. Current Joys is fresh off the release of his seventh album, Voyager via Secretly Canadian. While Surf Curse’s sound is more driving and punk-influenced, Current Joys explores Rattigan’s softer, more subtle side. Rattigan has a commanding stage presence, whether he’s pounding away furiously at the drums in Surf Curse or at the helm of the guitar for Current Joys. His voice projects in full-force as he sings forcefully, with every inch of his body.
Before releasing music as Current Joys around 2015, Rattigan held several projects including The Nicholas Project from 2011 to 2012, and TELE/VISIONS, in which his debut album Wild Heart was released in 2013. His second studio album Me Oh My Mirror saw the true beginnings of Current Joys, as well as the debut of his new signature style. Rattigan’s seventh album,Voyager just came out on May 14, 2021.
A Nevada native, Rattigan began Current Joys in Reno, before moving to New York after school and working as a production assistant in the film/TV industry. He relocated to Los Angeles in 2016, and the songs that make up Voyager began coming together shortly after. A recent press release shared, “Rattigan believes in the premonitory power of music, and he latches onto the song ideas that strike him in the moment, propelled by an abstract existentialism or burst of feeling more than anything else. Voyager has an intensity and intimacy – with the sense that you’re getting to hear, all at once, the disparate parts that make a project – or person – into a sprawling, cinematic whole.”
With his background in film, it’s no surprise that Rattigan released several music videos to accompany singles on the new album. Current Joys released a concert film The Phantom of the Highland Park Ebell, which saw Rattigan and company “tangle with an ancient Evil that comes to life before the grand reopening of the titular club,” on May 19, which premiered worldwide with a ticket purchase, and was available to rent until May 22. The band’s masquerade live performance of “Shivers” will send just what the song title suggests down your spine. Watch the video below:
The music video for “Amateur” takes the viewer a surreal, slightly demonic desert road trip. A disheveled, horn-studded Rattigan takes the wheel of a vintage car and speeds through the desert. Watch below:
“This record has been such a journey for me. I hope it inspires some journeys of your own,” Rattigan shared in an instagram post announcing the release of Voyager. The album is available for purchase via the Secretly Store on opaque maroon vinyl or in a bundle including a t-shirt featuring hand-drawn art by Nick Rattigan.
Leave a Comment