Joe and The Shitboys Kick Up A Storm in the Little Town of St Albans

Joe and The Shitboys caused chaos at the Horn, St Albans (or as Joe likes to call it, St Alabama,) last night as part of their UK debut tour. The band were supported by some incredible bands, including Television Scream, Gaylips and Happy Hour. 

Joe and The Shitboys are a queer, vegan, punk band from the Faroe Islands. Their pure intention is to call out other people for their bullsh*t and their crappy behaviour.

The four-piece are known for performing incredibly high energy shows, and they definitely did not disappoint last night.

At the beginning of their 40 minute set, Joe struts on stage like the next David Bowie, wearing bright red lipstick, which prompts huge cheers from the crowd. Although the venue is on the smaller side, the four-piece still managed to gather quite an audience with people ricocheting persistently throughout the night. The band kick off with their latest single, ‘Pull The Trigger’, a song which talks about keyboard warriors online who kick up a fuss when their hateful rhetoric is contested.

Although their set was short, the band spent half the time roasting audience members, as well as not so discreetly roasting them in their songs. No-one was safe from their tongue-and-cheek humour. At one point Joe asks the audience if there were any straight white men in the crowd, before delving into ‘Macho Man Randy Savage’ which talks about toxic masculinity. 

What is so tremendous about this group is the fact that none of their songs are rarely over a minute long, but they sure as hell get their message across. The band managed to play around 27 songs in forty minutes, and sang about anything and everything that could infuriate small minded people. From vegan propaganda in ‘If You Believe In Eating Meat Start With Your Dog’, to ‘Life is Great You Suck’ which opposes the fetishisation of depression. Joe begins to get his nipples out when singing a track about freeing the nipple. 

As expected, Joe and The Shitboys had a lot of love from the audience. The band spent a lot of time ricocheting with the crowd, encouraging them to put up their middle fingers and chant along to the songs, including a personal favourite: ‘Don’t tell us what to do, fuck you’, egging the crowd on to get wilder and wilder. At one point during the set, Joe had the entirety of the crowd crouched on the floor before jumping up and down. It’s humorous how ironic this is considering one of their tracks is called ‘Personal Space Invader’. However, the interaction made the show feel so much more inclusive, and the love was most definitely felt both ways.

The crowd simply could not get enough of Joe and The Shitboys. After ending their set, they were quickly back on stage for an encore after the audience chanted for one more song. In conclusion, the whole night was full of attitude, explosion of energy, and crazy guitars. Who knows what chaos Joe and The Shitboys will cause next. 

Rosie Morrison

@rosiemorrison_

Images: Rosie Morrison