Nevada / Los Angeles, CA · indie rock · lo-fi

Current Joys

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Nick Rattigan's bedroom recordings grew into something cinematic without losing the tape hiss — earnest, aching songs with the reverb turned all the way up.

Current Joys is the project of Nick Rattigan, born in 1992 and raised in Reno, Nevada, before he based himself in Los Angeles. He began releasing music as a teenager under the name The Nicholas Project between 2011 and 2012, then as TELE/VISIONS, putting out a self-released debut album, Wild Heart, on Bandcamp in January 2013.

In 2015 he adopted the Current Joys name, and the second album released under it, Me Oh My Mirror, marked a clear shift in style, built on tape hiss, drum machines, heavy reverb and plainly delivered vocals. Further albums followed at intervals, among them A Different Age, Voyager, LOVE + POP and its sequel LOVE + POP Pt 2, and East My Love.

Rattigan is also half of Surf Curse, the surf-punk duo he formed in 2013 with classmate Jacob Rubeck, in which he sings and drums; their debut album, Buds, came out that year through the Los Angeles label Big Joy Records.

Older Current Joys material found an audience well after release: the song "New Flesh", from Wild Heart, was used in a 2016 video by the online creator Emma Greer, posted shortly before her death, which drew renewed attention to the track years on. More recently, the singles "Kids" and "Televisions" were featured in the 2025 film Obsession.

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