Pitchfork compared their sound to "one of the Slits backed by the Gang of Four,[2] while PopMatters said, "Musically, the group’s use of complex percussion, horns, danceable bass lines, and overtly English female vocals built a bridge between the worlds of Afrobeat, reggae, avant-garde jazz, funk and pop".
[5] The band's influences were later described by Wrafter as "jazz, reggae, funk and punk, soul, hip-hop (the Last Poets, Afrika Bambaataa and the Sugarhill Gang), dub and ambient.
This lineup recorded Maximum Joy's last single, a Dennis Bovell-produced cover of Timmy Thomas' "Why Can't We Live Together" backed by "Man of Tribes".
[1] Retrospective Unlimited (1979-1983) was released in 2005, and Station MXJY was reissued on CD by Beat Records in Japan in April 2008, containing various mixes of the singles as bonus tracks as well as the unreleased version of "Why Can't We Live Together" with Rainforth's original vocal.
[14][15] On 19 August 2015, they announced that the reunited band would perform at the Simple Things music festival on 24 October 2015 in Bristol,[16] joined by Marek Bero on bass and James Byron on guitar.
Following this Rainforth went on to form a new outfit MXMJoY, along with Charlie Llewllin and other new contributing members[17] before releasing the first single, "Can Man Conquer It All", from their forthcoming album, p.e.a.c.e.