From the glacial cliffs of the Faroe Islands comes an eruption of chaos, confrontation, and charisma. Joe & The Shitboys, the self-proclaimed “bisexual vegan shitpunk band,” return in 2025 with their first full-length LP: Greatest Shits—a blistering compilation and unfiltered retrospective that condenses their entire output into one disc. Released via Alcopop! Records on August 29th, the album is equal parts anthology, manifesto, and Molotov cocktail hurled at toxic masculinity, conservatism, and straight-faced punk orthodoxy.

What began as a joke—a “bullshit one-off punk single” called “The Reson For Hardcore Vibes”—has since evolved into a raw, electrified campaign to destabilize regressive values in their native Faroe Islands and beyond. Frontman Joe, a figure of punk myth already, recounts this evolution with gleeful irreverence. Yet beneath the humor lies a calculated rebellion: anti-elitist, anti-hate, and gloriously anti-everything that dulls the edge of punk into fashion or empty rage.

“Mr. Nobody,” one of the new singles anchoring the compilation, exemplifies the band’s paradoxical genius: an abrasive, two-minute blitz that mocks nihilism while affirming the self. Joe’s lyrics come in with deadpan snarl and precise absurdity, calling out social stagnancy while wrapping it in fuzzed-out guitar jabs and spastic drum patterns. Like much of the band’s catalogue, it’s equal parts satire and sincerity—a sonic grenade disguised as slapstick.

Greatest Shits compiles the band’s three micro-albums—all originally 10-minute-long adrenaline shots—and bundles them with the new DAM. EP, recorded on analogue tape in Amsterdam. The EP veers into slightly more textured territory, but without softening the edge. Instead, it expands their palette—more controlled chaos, more tonal variation, and sharper lyrical targeting. It’s punk with a brain and a backbone.

The title of the LP, of course, is not just an anti-album name—it’s an ethos. “Greatest Shits” isn’t trying to climb the charts or play nice. It’s a nod to the absurdity of gatekeeping in punk, the commodification of counterculture, and the fact that even the most dismissive noise deserves a canon. Joe & The Shitboys don’t just mock the system—they build a funhouse mirror to distort it entirely.

The band’s 2025 resurgence is further amplified by the patronage of Iggy Pop, who invited them on his UK headline tour and regularly spins their tracks on his BBC 6Music program. There’s something poetic about Iggy—himself a blueprint for musical chaos—embracing this next-gen incarnation of punk’s rotting heart and radiant flame. Where so many bands attempt to recreate the energy of 1977 or 1989, Joe & The Shitboys deliver something far rarer: a punk that feels like now.

Their live sets, already infamous, promise to be even more feral this summer as they crisscross stages armed with satire, sex-positivity, and relentless honesty. No one is safe. Every sacred cow—be it nationalism, homophobia, straight cis male fragility, or the sanitized punk aesthetic—is dragged into the ring and pummeled with glitter, bass, and blistering mockery.

In a time when much of rock culture is being gently rebranded or corporatized, Joe & The Shitboys refuse compliance. Their music is as much performance art as punk revival. They reclaim irreverence not as a branding tool but as a necessary defense against cultural stagnation.

Greatest Shits is not just a compilation—it’s a loud, flailing, sweaty affirmation that punk is still a weapon. And with songs like “Mr. Nobody” leading the charge, Joe & The Shitboys remind us that marginal voices can still scream loudest when given the mic—or, more accurately, when they seize it.

This is punk for those tired of posturing, allergic to pretense, and desperate for catharsis with a side of clownery. In 2025, Joe & The Shitboys aren’t just still here. They’re louder, ruder, and more necessary than ever.

 

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