The Joy Thieves – I’ll Be Your Hammer feat. Chris Connelly

The Joy Thieves rip it with 'I'll Be Your Hammer' from 'Apocalypse Pending' feat. Chris Connelly - soundtracking the end of the world as we know it...

10/07/2026

The Joy Thieves – I’ll Be Your Hammer feat. Chris Connelly

The Joy Thieves rip it with ‘I’ll Be Your Hammer’ from ‘Apocalypse Pending’ feat. Chris Connelly – soundtracking the end of the world as we know it.

Chicago-based industrial-rock-punk-experimental supergroup The Joy Thieves presents ‘I’ll Be Your Hammer’ from their full-length album ‘Apocalypse Pending’, released via Armalyte Industries. As with the album’s lead singles ‘No Anchor’ and ‘The Wrong End of Your Rifle’, the accompanying video was created by Lumbra Productions.

A rallying cry to inspire people to stand up to fascism as it quickly spreads around the globe, the song’s title is a direct response to ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror‘ by The Velvet Underground, and also alludes to the quote “Art is not a mirror, it’s a hammer” by the trailblazing Scottish documentarian John Grierson.

Many instantly recognize the iconic voice of Chris Connelly (Fini Tribe, Revolting Cocks, Ministry, Pigface), who shares, “While ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ by The Velvet Underground is an introspective plea from one lover to another, ‘I’ll Be Your Hammer’ is written from the perspective of an individual standing up to a fascist regime. The more you suppress our rights, the stronger I get”.

Highly influenced by the hip hop music production techniques of the 80’s and early 90’s, ‘Apocalypse Pending’ finds the Joy Thieves Productions team of Dan Milligan and James Scott redefining themselves by utilizing a sample-heavy production to forge elements of industrial, rock, experimental, punk, hip hop, metal, and freeform jazz. But instead of sampling the music of others, they draw inspiration in the talents of the band’s 80+ other members, resulting in an incendiary sound all their own.

While The Joy Thieves combine a wide array of musicians in order to craft their signature sound, ‘Apocalypse Pending’ stretches this concept to its limits, turning their entire song-creation process upside down. Instead of members contributing songs, as before, they meticulously gathered hundreds of unrelated recorded musical fragments from their fellow Joy Thieves, then painstakingly reconstructed brand new pieces of music from these fragments, ultimately creating a fresh and innovative sound.

‘Apocalypse Pending’ captures the zeitgeist with such precision while touching on the decay of the individual and exploring the isolation of our modern world. Seething with frustration and rage at one moment, and coolly delivering beat poetry the next, this album uses a densely layered, sonic collage as the perfect vehicle to deliver the band’s violently anti-fascist sentiments.  

Since signing with London alternative-industrial label Armalyte Industries in 2018, The Joy Thieves have delivered 11 critically-acclaimed releases. ‘Apocalypse Pending’ is the latest — produced, engineered and mixed by Joy Thieves Productions at Populist Recording + Mastering.

The Joy Thieves includes current, former, and touring members of Ministry, Stabbing Westward, The Rollins Band, Killing Joke, Pigface, RevCo, PIG, David Bowie, Blue October, Machines of Loving Grace, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Naked Raygun, Foetus, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Pegboy, Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps and more.

‘Apocalypse Pending’ is out now, available on Digipack CD and digitally everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

TRACK LIST

01. Apocalypse Pending
02. No Anchor
03. Coward’s Way
04. I’ll Be Your Hammer
05. The Wrong End of Your Rifle
06. Pariah
07. Ready / Willing
08. Just A Conversation
09. Knife Fight Nihilism
10. Ambush Vinez
11. Evidence Dump
12. The Cleaner Came
13. Hoax.