Desperate Journalist

Desperate Journalist are a London post-punk group active since 2013. The band forms around Jo Bevan on vocals, Simon Drowner on bass, Rob Hardy on guitar and Caz Hellbent on drums. In earlier line-ups, Caroline Helbert plays drums; she joins after having little previous drumming experience.

Formation and name

The group forms in North London in 2012 and plays its first gig in February 2013 at the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park. Hardy and Drowner have previously played together in the Birmingham band The Drowners, and Drowner later plays bass in Bevan’s earlier band If.... The band name comes from the Cure rarity “Desperate Journalist in Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation”.

Early releases

After self-releasing the debut EP Cristina, the band signs to Fierce Panda. The label releases the singles “Organ” and “Happening”, which lead to the debut album Desperate Journalist in 2014. The album is recorded at Dean Street Studios with Keith TOTP. Reviews at the time describe the band as “beautiful and spellbinding” and praise Bevan’s vocals and the group’s “effortless grace”.

Tours and later releases

The band tours the United Kingdom in support of the debut album, including a show at Whitby. In 2015 they play indietracks, headline the 100 Club and release the EP Good Luck. In 2016 they tour Europe in the spring, support Chameleons Vox on a UK tour in August, and record a second album.

The second album, Grow Up, appears in 2017, supported by a headline tour of the UK and Germany that includes a date at the Scala. Singles from the album include “Hollow”, “Resolution”, “Be Kind” and “Why Are You So Boring?”; “Hollow” receives a music video and is picked as Song of the Day by KEXP, while “Resolution” is played on BBC Radio 6 Music and “Be Kind” is playlisted by Virgin Radio UK.

2017 onward

During 2017 the band plays festivals including Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Tramlines and Benicàssim, and later supports the Slow Readers Club on tour. In 2018 they release “It Gets Better”, from the EP You Get Used To It, and later release “Cedars”, the first single from the third album In Search of the Miraculous. From November 2018, Charley Stone joins as a live guitarist.