The Joy Thieves release ‘The Wrong End of Your Rifle’ with Chris Connelly, preview ‘Apocalypse Pending’
Joy Thieves - Chris Connelly, Dan Milligan & James Scott (Photo by Derick Smith)
Chicago collective The Joy Thieves have released the single “The Wrong End of Your Rifle“, the first preview of the full-length album “Apocalypse Pending”, due June 5, 2026 via Armalyte Industries. The track features Chris Connellynext to Dan Milligan and James Scott.
Lyrically, the song targets corporate impunity, state violence, and public desensitisation. Connelly says it is a response to a moment when “the billionaires are accountable for nothing”, adding that “we can’t argue or reason with bullets.”
Milligan said the album was built to “blend the existing Joy Thieves’ sound with elements of the golden age of hip hop”. He also explained that “The Wrong End of Your Rifle” began with a reworked version of “Ashley’s Roachclip” by The Soul Searchers, which became the foundation of the track.
The accompanying video was created by Joel Lopez at Lumbra Productions.
About The Joy Thieves
The Joy Thieves began in Chicago in December 2017, when drummer and musician Dan Milligan started assembling contributors for a new industrial rock recording project. The project, built around Milligan and James Scott, later on expanded into a roster of more than 80 contributors.
The group signed with Armalyte Industries ahead of its first release and issued the debut EP “This Will Kill That” in June 2019. That was followed by the “Cities In Dust” EP in October 2019 and the “A Blue Girl” EP in March 2020.
In May 2020 the band issued the standalone single “Genocide Love Song”. The first full-length, “American Parasite”, followed in July 2021, with all lead vocals performed by Chris Connelly. Later releases included the “Nemesis” single in September 2021, the “6 To 3” EP in November 2022, “Dissent-ertainment: 6 To 3 Remixed” in June 2023, “The Heart of the Worm” and “Return To Needle Park” in 2024, and the second full-length “Spilt Milk” in June 2024.
“Apocalypse Pending” is the band’s third full-length album.
Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
