Jopy

“stirs up an endlessly peppy, surf-punk party…With capering, infectious rhythms certain to sweep you willingly into the ghoulish mosh pit” DIY

“Short, sharp punk-pop songs of the wry and witty variety…the midpoint between Elastica and PJ Harvey’s twangier moments” Record Collector

“Think Demon Barber of Fleet Street vibes… . Don’t do this at home kids” Amy Lamé, BBC Radio 6 Music

“Nothing short of an alternative queer masterpiece….dark, chaotic fun for your inner sociopath, yet the exhilarating joy of found family shines through with every beat” LOUD WOMEN

“New Banger” NME

Brighton-based Queer/glam-punk trio Jopy share debut EP Planet Zombie, accompanied by a music video for its snarling title-track - released today (20th September) via cult indie label Goo Records.

Mingling the macabre with the fantastical, Planet Zombie EP offers a celebration of queerness through fantastical camp-horror fictions. Rolling Marc Bolan-esque vocals, The B-52s and the Rocky Horror picture show into one blood-curdingly gleeful package of vampires, ghosts, zombie-baristas in space and superhuman cannibals, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Jo Parnell - who recorded and produced the EP entirely herself - channels her experiences as a trans-woman into 6 vignettes of affirmation and deviant joy.

Finding early press backing from DIY, NME, Record Collector, LOUD WOMEN, God Is In The TV and The Most Radicalist - as well as airplay on BBC Radio 6Music (Amy Lamé, Deb Grant) and Radio X (John Kennedy), Jopy gear themselves up for their biggest nationwide tour to date (full details below), coming ahead of a slot at Brighton’s Mutations festival this November.

Discussing the themes of Planet Zombie, Jo says: “The Planet Zombie EP is a collection of stories that try to balance tongue in cheek humour with more sincere undertones. One main theme that I feel is present throughout the EP is coping with feelings of uncertainty and unimportance. Whether it’s finding acceptance in a pub run by cannibals, committing yourself to achieving immortality through vampiric means, or leaving behind your home planet to open your dream cafe, every character in this EP is trying to give purpose to their lives. 

I think it speaks to the fears a lot of people my age have about our place in the world and while I wrote these songs to create a light hearted sense of escape for listeners, they are rooted in real experiences. Writing songs like ‘Graveyard Romance’, ‘Planet Zombie’ and Honey the Vampire, was not only a fantastical escape but also a genuine therapeutic process that helped me understand myself more deeply. 

That being said I don’t want the EP to be taken too seriously because at the end of the day I want my music to make people smile, dance and enjoy themselves. Whether you feel represented by any of the themes or just enjoy the music, as long as you had fun listening then the EP did its job!”

More about Jopy

Growing up in the small town of Guildford - but now based in Brighton - Jopy aka Jo Parnell (pronounced “Joe-Pee”) - has been thinking about music for as long as she can remember. As a trans woman growing up in a town without much resembling queer culture, Jopy was acutely aware of the estranged, outsider status pinned upon her, using her music as a conduit to revel in this perceived ‘deviance’ and find subversive pleasure within it. Joined in her three piece band by childhood friends ‘Clown Baby’ (Bass) and Louis Relf (Drums), the results are a glittering treasure-trove of unhinged characters, oddball stories and razor-sharp songwriting:“..there’s a certain empowerment you can find in boring people finding your existence offensive…”