Name: Sick Joy ✘ Honeybadger @ Cavern, Exeter
Start: 2026-02-03T19:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-03T23:00:00+00:00
Location: Exeter Cavern

$Sick Joy \u2718 Honeybadger @ Cavern, Exeter$

SICK JOY:
Born in Newcastle’s underground circuit and cultivated in Brighton’s renowned music scene, Sick Joy is the sonic heartbeat of singer and multi instrumentalist Mykl Barton. Coined late one evening in a North East bar, the project's name became the perfect metaphor for Barton’s enduring obsession with duality: beauty vs. ruin, euphoria vs. despair. Sick Joy became a vehicle to channel years of disarray and turmoil into a sound where rabid riffs sit beside soaring widescreen choruses.
On stage Sick Joy is a direct, super charged organism, translating Barton’s cathartic songwriting into ferocious, communal release. Drawing acclaim across UK press and the festival circuit for their debut album, they garnered support slots with everyone from Deaf Havana to Pearl Jam and Pixies.
Sophomore album More Forever expands the band’s alt-rock DNA while adding industrial nods, with bruising potent drums, jagged synths, and lyrics that wrestle systemic damage, grief, love and survival into brutal poetry.
The album's twelve tracks were born over a period of 12 months between an attic in Newcastle and a lock-up near Brighton. They then went on to be recorded in a remote Spanish studio with acclaimed producer Alain Johannes (Queens Of The Stone Age, Mark Lanegan, Chris Cornell, Them Crooked Vultures) at the desk; later mixed by Josh “Hoagie” Harrison (Royal Blood, The Cure).
If the debut asked why life hurts, More Forever answers by doubling the tension: bigger choruses, sharper hooks, and an unblinking cold refusal to flinch. Sick Joy is the stark sound of someone turning private collapse into public celebration - proof that the things that nearly break us can sometimes make the loudest, most life-affirming noise.

HONEYBADGER
Brighton-based trio Honeybadger is back with a high-octane anthem that perfectly captures their signature sound. Known for blending punk, indie rock, and grunge, the band delivers an explosive new single “Gonna Break” brimming with raw energy, blown-out guitars, and unfiltered emotion.
Eddy (lead singer) says: “our new track ‘Gonna Break’ is a full-throttle, no-brakes blast of chaos. The track captures the gut-punch moment of being ripped from your comfort zone and slammed into a life that’s caving in around you. It’s fast, angry, and loud as hell”
As always, Honeybadger pair their gritty sound with sharp, emotional honesty, digging into that all-too-relatable feeling of trying to power through when everything’s falling apart.
Formed in 2014 by brothers Joe and Eddy alongside school friend Luca, Honeybadger describe their sound as “spiky, gutter psychedelia” — a snarling mix of punk edge, grunge grit, and garage rock energy. Influenced by the likes of Demob Happy, Them Crooked Vultures, Frank Carter and Queens Of The Stoneage the band has become known for their raw intensity and chaotic live shows.
They’ve already made a mark on the UK rock scene, with features on BBC Introducing, BBC Live Lounge, and Planet Rock’s New Rock Show with Wyatt Wendels. Their music has landed on major playlists including Spotify’s Fresh Finds Rock and Shockwave, Apple Music’s New in Rock and New in Punk, and Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Rock. Recently featured on Alyx Holcombe’s BBC Radio 1 Introducing Show, the band’s latest EP has now surpassed 300,000 streams and counting.
With “Gonna Break”, Honeybadger continue to prove they’re not here to blend in, they're here to blast the volume up and burn it down.