Sick Jokes
Cult of ignorance
SICK JOKES
Conceived under the virus in 2020, the global electro-pop-industrial collective SICK JOKES caught the ears of Grande Svengali JOHN FRYER (4AD, DEPECHE MODE, NIN), via Sick Jokes crooner/drummer/sound designer SEAN HAEZEBROUCK drumming for Fryer’s BLACK NEEDLE NOISE at SXSW and their ensuing Tour of Los Angeles. Fryer tipped the Jokes to us, and COP released the Jokes’ debut “MMXX” (“2020”) on December 1 of that year.
An EP duology followed, “THE GREAT HEREAFTER EP” (April, 2022) and “THE AGE OF ANXIETY EP” (October, 2022), with all tracks mixed by Fryer, including a Jokesian rendition of the 1981 Red Rider chestnut LUNATIC FRINGE. (We all know you’re out there.) The Jokes also remixed a rogues gallery of other artists throughout this time, including the legendary SKATENIGS (of REVCO’S “BEERS, STEERS + QUEERS” fame), along with COPmates EL MUERTE/FRONT 242, DEATHLINE INTERNATIONAL, STONEBURNER, JOHNNY TUPOLEV and Fryer’s Black Needle Noise.
DETROIT natives and veterans of the Nineties-Naughties scene there, Haezebrouck, guitarist/editor/sound designer MICHAEL MADILL and keyboardist/beat scientist ROBERT MCCARROLL have collaborated across many creative projects ever since. Regardless of where they have drifted around the world (currently Austin, the French countryside, and Detroit, respectively), the message has always been as important as the medium. This time around, the medium is the electro-metal-pop song, and the message is: the Apocalypse has a backbeat and a very dark sense of humor.
From its genesis, the Sick Jokes concept was always intended to be a vocal marriage of “The Divine Feminine + The Great Beast.” With the Beast role cast internally, the first Bad MFer for the matriarchy was Los Angeles’s inimitable indie legend PLASMIC, who does for pink what fizz does for gin. Other lady legends soon heeded the call of the Jokes, including SHIRAGIRL, KATE HINOTE, MSMMMCG and RONA ROUGEHEART/SINE. These talented women (and more that were to come) add the dark beauty to the terrifying nightmares of McCarroll’s crushed bits and disturbed atmospheres, Madill’s razor-precise cuts and syncopated riffs and Haezebrouck’s pounding batterie acid and creamy dream of a scream.
And now, for our 100th digital release, we present “THE CULT OF IGNORANCE” — the fourth release from Sick Jokes, releasing May 3, 2024. Operating now at the zenith of their arcane powers, Sean, Michael and Robert have once again enlisted the Pinktator PLASMIC as well as Los Angeles-based songstress/GIBSON artist DEVON THOMPSON, honey-voiced singer/songwriter MOLLY LEACH and the mysterious TYLER C to tell a tale of where things sit in America in 2024. Everything may be f**ked, but karma doesn’t care as long as you sheik yerbouti. CERTA DE CULTU IGNORANTIAE!
“The collective is made up of industrial music specialists, and they extract the best of the style, mixing it with metal and electronic music in the most insane way.”
— ROADIEMETAL
“Blending elements of industrial/metal with the accessible melodies of electro-pop, (with) themes of excess reaching a boiling point. A trip through the bloodstream in the midst of a stroke.”
— REGEN MAGAZINE
“The intertwining of male and female vocals take the listener into the dimension of electro-metal. The album passed in an instant, as good music was pressed deep into my ear.”
— POST BLACK METAL ALBUMS
Releases
CULT OF IGNORANCE (May, 2024)
THE AGE OF ANXIETY EP (October, 2022)
THE GREAT HEREAFTER EP (April, 2022)
MMXX (December, 2020)