Rating: 8.5 / 10 Stars
JOYOUS WOLF is: Pedro Cordeiro – Vocals, Blake Allard – Guitar, Greg Braccio – Bass, Robert Sodaro – Drums
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REVIEW – JOYOUS WOLF has spent years building a reputation around raw live energy, groove-heavy guitars, bluesy weight, and a willingness to let different eras of rock collide. With In Between, the Orange County quartet finally delivers its first full-length album, and the result feels less like a debut in the traditional sense and more like the arrival of a band that has already spent years figuring out exactly what it wants to be.
The album comes seven years after the band’s 2019 EP Place in Time, but that long stretch did not go to waste. JOYOUS WOLF spent much of that time touring, writing, refining, and eventually narrowing dozens of ideas into nine tracks intended to work as a complete front-to-back experience rather than a random collection of singles. That sense of purpose is one of the record’s strongest qualities.
“Runaway” opens the album with immediate force. The guitars come in heavy, the rhythm section hits hard, and Pedro Cordeiro’s vocals give the song the kind of urgency that feels built for a stage. It is an explosive way to introduce In Between and immediately reminds the listener why JOYOUS WOLF has earned such a strong live reputation.
“Juniper” shows a different side of the band. The track moves between more melodic passages and heavier sections, creating a push and pull that gives the song real depth. Rather than staying at one intensity level, JOYOUS WOLF lets the dynamics shift naturally, making the louder moments hit harder because the quieter moments are allowed to breathe.
“In Your Shadow” keeps that sense of movement alive. The song has a darker atmosphere and feels more restrained in places, but the tension underneath never really disappears. The band understands when to pull back and when to let the guitars take over.
“Karma” feels like one of the album’s more deliberate statements. The song balances emotional weight with a muscular groove, showing how comfortable JOYOUS WOLF has become combining melody with heavier rock instrumentation. There is a confidence here that comes from years of working these songs and figuring out what actually belongs.
“Get Myself Right” carries a more reflective tone without sacrificing momentum. Cordeiro’s vocals give the song a personal edge while the instrumentation remains grounded and direct. The band never lets introspection turn into softness for the sake of it.
“Fine By Me” settles into a groove that feels loose without becoming unfocused. This is where the blues and soul influences underneath JOYOUS WOLF’s heavier sound become especially noticeable. The guitars breathe, the rhythm section keeps things moving, and the whole track feels lived in rather than overly polished.
“Storm” brings a heavier pulse back into the record. The song has weight, but it also carries an emotional quality that prevents it from feeling like a straightforward riff exercise. The album repeatedly works best when JOYOUS WOLF lets heaviness and melody live in the same space.
“Talk To Me” gives the record another change in texture. There is something more direct and conversational about the performance, and the song feels like one of the album’s more immediate moments. The hook lands without sounding forced, and the arrangement leaves enough room for the vocal to stay at the center.
“The Mechanic” closes the record with its longest track. At more than five minutes, the song gives JOYOUS WOLF room to stretch out, bringing together much of what the album has established: strong guitar work, dynamic shifts, groove, emotional weight, and a refusal to rush toward the finish line.
What stands out most about In Between is how much it feels like an album rather than a playlist.
That distinction matters.
JOYOUS WOLF could have easily taken the safer route and filled the record with songs designed individually for streaming. Instead, the band clearly thought about sequencing, pacing, and the way these songs sit next to one another. The result is a record with an emotional arc and enough variation to keep the listener engaged from beginning to end.
The production also helps preserve the band’s physicality.
Rather than burying everything under excessive polish, the mix leaves enough room for the guitars to sound large, the drums to feel organic, and Cordeiro’s vocals to retain their grit. Jay Ruston’s involvement gives the record clarity without stripping away the rawness that makes JOYOUS WOLF compelling in the first place.
Blake Allard’s guitar work carries much of the album’s identity, moving between heavy riffs, blues-influenced phrases, and more melodic passages without making the shifts feel disconnected. Greg Braccio and Robert Sodaro provide a rhythm section that gives the record real weight, while Cordeiro remains the emotional and physical focal point.
That balance is important because JOYOUS WOLF is not just a heavy rock band.
There is blues here.
There is soul.
There is alternative influence.
There is classic rock DNA.
But none of those pieces feel like costumes.
They simply sound like parts of the same band.
The long road to In Between may have actually worked in JOYOUS WOLF’s favor. There is no sense of a band rushing to make a first album before it was ready. Instead, this feels like a group that waited until it had enough experience, enough songs, and enough confidence to make the record it actually wanted.
That patience gives In Between maturity.
It also gives the album replay value.
The bigger songs hit immediately, but the quieter details, dynamic changes, and subtler grooves reveal themselves more clearly with repeated listens.
For a debut full-length, that is exactly where JOYOUS WOLF should want to be.
In Between does not sound like a band searching for an identity.
It sounds like one finally documenting the identity it already built.
For more information on JOYOUS WOLF, visit:
www.JoyousWolfBand.com
www.Facebook.com/JoyousWolf
www.X.com/JoyousWolfMusic
www.Instagram.com/JoyousWolfMusic
www.YouTube.com/@JoyousWolfMusic
www.Spotify.com/Artist/JoyousWolf
