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JIZZY PEARL
All You Need Is Soul

Frontiers (2018)
Rating: 9/10

Oh, it’s such a buzz to have Love/Hate frontman Jizzy Pearl back and banging on with his rock ‘n’ roll tales in that inimitable vocal tone.

The punky ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone’ is a sure-fire hit with its fist-pumping beat, driving melody and catchy chorus. Only Jizzy can lead us into the next few years with such positivity and vim, that attitude and style still evoking Love/Hate’s most grandiose moments as his band sweats hard and breaks bones to deliver high doses of rock ‘n’ roll pomp.

All You Need Is Soul is a veritable smorgasbord of punky, sleazy, scorching rock whereby huge throbbing melodies are delivered with a rough-around-the-edges approach. Just dive head-first into that deep, oozing and rolling grunge vibe on ‘When The Devil Comes’. ‘When The Devil Comes’ nods back to the black, gluey masses of 1992 circa My Sister’s Machine as the riffs generate huge dollops of syrup, Jizzy’s vocals swirling within the sugar-sweet textures of kaleidoscopic gloop.

The title track is a tribal stomp which insinuates that we’ve never left the funked up glories of the late 80s and early 90s alternative metal scene; Saigon Kick, Liquid Jesus, Warrior Soul, I Love You and, of course, Love/Hate, are all thrown into the blender and stirred with a multi-coloured spoon.

Maybe it’s that swaggering riff, the almost psychedelic and mesmerising bounce enraptured by the Pearl posse. “You’ve got it… you’ve got it baby” Jizzy hypnotically sways; it’s a mantra of vigour and grunge, a time when grunge still had that edge rather than that all too sticky and downtrodden attitude. It’s always there, even through the wilder sizzling escapades (‘Frustrated’, ‘Comin’ Home To The Bone’ et al) which all exhibit pulsating, throbbing layers of groove. There’s no surprise at the strong Love/Hate hints too in the likes of ‘House Of Sin’ with its stabbing rhythm ‘n’ sleaze, the struttin’ ‘High For An Eye’ and the infectious trudge of ‘Little Treasures’.

There’s so much more flavour too, though. ‘Mortified’ just hammers along with bony percussion and verve, and yet at the other end of the spectrum, there’s the summery Rolling Stonesy ‘You Don’t Know What It’s Like’ with that playful acoustic blues vibe. ‘It Doesn’t Matter’, meanwhile, is a classy strumming ballad as Jizzy reflects, “Now it’s over, it wasn’t meant to be… you don’t care for me, and it doesn’t matter”. Then we have closer ‘Mr. Jimmy’; a punked up, grinding rocker of crashing drums and persistent driving guitars. “Relax, you’re dead… get high instead” barks Jizzy, and I’m keen to follow his orders and get wasted in America.

Jizzy, you’ve done it again with another rousing rock ‘n’ roll opus that hopefully will provide one big kick up the backside of mankind… or at least those fortunate to come along for this ride.
Oh, it’s such a buzz to have Love/Hate frontman Jizzy Pearl back and banging on with his rock ‘n’ roll tales in that inimitable vocal tone.

The punky ‘You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone’ is a sure-fire hit with its fist-pumping beat, driving melody and catchy chorus. Only Jizzy can lead us into the next few years with such positivity and vim, that attitude and style still evoking Love/Hate’s most grandiose moments as his band sweats hard and breaks bones to deliver high doses of rock ‘n’ roll pomp.

All You Need Is Soul is a veritable smorgasbord of punky, sleazy, scorching rock whereby huge throbbing melodies are delivered with a rough-around-the-edges approach. Just dive head-first into that deep, oozing and rolling grunge vibe on ‘When The Devil Comes’. ‘When The Devil Comes’ nods back to the black, gluey masses of 1992 circa My Sister’s Machine as the riffs generate huge dollops of syrup, Jizzy’s vocals swirling within the sugar-sweet textures of kaleidoscopic gloop.

The title track is a tribal stomp which insinuates that we’ve never left the funked up glories of the late 80s and early 90s alternative metal scene; Saigon Kick, Liquid Jesus, Warrior Soul, I Love You and, of course, Love/Hate, are all thrown into the blender and stirred with a multi-coloured spoon.

Maybe it’s that swaggering riff, the almost psychedelic and mesmerising bounce enraptured by the Pearl posse. “You’ve got it… you’ve got it baby” Jizzy hypnotically sways; it’s a mantra of vigour and grunge, a time when grunge still had that edge rather than that all too sticky and downtrodden attitude. It’s always there, even through the wilder sizzling escapades (‘Frustrated’, ‘Comin’ Home To The Bone’ et al) which all exhibit pulsating, throbbing layers of groove. There’s no surprise at the strong Love/Hate hints too in the likes of ‘House Of Sin’ with its stabbing rhythm ‘n’ sleaze, the struttin’ ‘High For An Eye’ and the infectious trudge of ‘Little Treasures’.

There’s so much more flavour too, though. ‘Mortified’ just hammers along with bony percussion and verve, and yet at the other end of the spectrum, there’s the summery Rolling Stonesy ‘You Don’t Know What It’s Like’ with that playful acoustic blues vibe. ‘It Doesn’t Matter’, meanwhile, is a classy strumming ballad as Jizzy reflects, “Now it’s over, it wasn’t meant to be… you don’t care for me, and it doesn’t matter”. Then we have closer ‘Mr. Jimmy’; a punked up, grinding rocker of crashing drums and persistent driving guitars. “Relax, you’re dead… get high instead” barks Jizzy, and I’m keen to follow his orders and get wasted in America.

Jizzy, you’ve done it again with another rousing rock ‘n’ roll opus that hopefully will provide one big kick up the backside of mankind… or at least those fortunate to come along for this ride.

Neil Arnold

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