Gay for Johnny Depp

Gay for Johnny Depp

Gay for Johnny Depp is an American hardcore group from Brooklyn, formed in 2004 and active until 2011. The line-up includes Arthur Shepherd, Joseph Grillo, Lyndon Roeller and Jeffery James Samanen. The band is associated with experimental, queercore and screamo, and its music is also described as spazzcore and hardcore.

Style and themes

The group is known for a frantic, relentless sound, with songs that usually run for less than three minutes. Its vocals are typically delivered in a high-pitched scream, and the band is often compared to acts such as Ed Gein, The Blood Brothers and The Locust. Its lyrics focus heavily on a homoerotic fixation on actor Johnny Depp.

Releases and activity

Gay for Johnny Depp’s first release is the five-track EP Erotically Charged Dance Songs for the Desperate, issued in 2004. A second EP, Blood: The Natural Lubricant (An Apocalyptic Adventure Beyond Sodom and Gomorrah), follows in 2005 and is supported by a short UK tour. The band plays at Download Festival at Donington Park in 2006. A first full-length album, The Politics of Cruelty, is completed, and a compilation of the group’s material to that point is released in 2009 on Banquet Records in the UK, alongside a joint headline tour of the UK with Blakfish. The band announces its split in 2011.

Background

The group forms from former members of the post-hardcore bands Garrison and Instruction. Its early recordings attract attention for both the music and the unusual song titles.