Horse Jumper of Love
support: joyer
10
November
HORSE JUMPER OF LOVE: PLAYING THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT IN ITS ENTIRETY
Horse Jumper of Love is a Boston-based trio known for their raw, melancholic blend of slowcore and shoegaze. The band was originally formed by Dimitri Giannopoulos, John Margaris, and James Doran as teenagers performing at house shows in Boston. Their 2016 self-titled debut emerged from that same DIY scene: intimate, raw songs that capture the confusion of growing up, falling in love, heartbreak, and the transition from adolescence to adulthood. What began as a record Giannopoulos never expected many people to hear grew into a modern classic and an influential album that put slowcore and shoegaze back on the map within indie rock.
Horse Jumper of Love has since evolved from a band playing in Boston basements to an act headlining tours and festivals worldwide, sharing the stage with influential acts like Duster. Their self-titled debut has also had a clear influence on a new generation of bands, including They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Teethe, and Shallowater. To mark the album's tenth anniversary, it has been expanded and remastered to include previously unreleased demos, B-sides, alternative versions, handwritten guitar tabs, and archival photos—a fitting tribute to the record that established Horse Jumper of Love as a major name in modern slowcore.
Support act
JOYER
Formed in New Jersey in 2017, Joyer released their first studio album, Sun Into Flies, in 2020 after two self-recorded demo collections, followed by Perfect Gray in 2021. Multi-instrumentalist brothers Nick and Shane Sullivan are now based in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, where they continue to evolve their sound.
Their most recent album, Night Songs, explores the allure of the night and its ability to constantly shift shape: from a mirror for our deepest demons to a shield against the demands of daily life. The album marks a departure from their understated slowcore beginnings, showcasing a more versatile sound ranging from scorched-earth shoegaze guitars and pop-oriented vocals to melancholic synths and pastoral lap steel. Fittingly, their foray into more erratic and heavier territory coincides with the debauched nature of nocturnal activities, while their move toward a more hi-fi, pop-focused sound aligns with the razor-sharp clarity offered by pitch-black skies.
Their devilish distortion serves as a cathartic counterpoint to their quiet off-stage personalities and was shaped in part by their live shows, which featured increasingly rugged versions of earlier Joyer tracks. Following the success of Night Songs, the band has toured extensively across the country, sharing the stage with other promising acts and prominent indie rock artists such as Wishy, Feeble Little Horse, Horse Jumper of Love, Lowertown, and Babehoven.
