With their jangly chiming electric guitars and crisp Beatlesque melodies, The Joy Strings (sometimes called simply Joystrings) were there right at the very start of Britain’s Christian rock scene. Comprised of four men and one lady, this Salvation Army musical outreach sought to present the gospel “in the everyday language of the ‘ordinary folk’ of this world, and what is more everyday than Pop music!”. Side one features eight originals that set the standard for the whole UK Christian “beat” movement that followed, presenting a variety of moods such as merseybeat (‘Keep Me In Your Love’), dreamy ballads (‘He Is Near’), garage pop/psych (‘No Time To Lose’), swinging London pop (‘Long Lost Cause’) and rock-n-roll (‘Love That’s All Around’). On side two the group took eight Christmas carols and presented them in their own refreshing style, even tapping into the burgeoning psychedelic scene for covers of ‘We Three Kings’ and ‘O Little Town Of Bethlehem’ (the latter to the tune of ‘House Of The Rising Sun’). Some nice tremolo guitar effects sprinkled about. Co-released in the US on the Epic label in a different cover. See the EP section for a listing of their numerous 7-inchers. In the words of one UK record dealer, “the Joystrings revival starts here!”. (Ken Scott - Archivist)
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