ALBUM REVIEW: Jools – Violent Delights (Hassle Records)
Jools are a noise-rock band from Leicester who got together in 2019 and, after releasing four digital-only singles and a solitary 7in, have now unleashed their debut album.
The six-piece describe themselves as a punk collective, but that’s reflected in their attitude rather than their sound, as these songs meld everything from post-punk to hip-hop and garage rock to post-hardcore.
Co-vocalists Kate Price and Mitch Gordon, guitarists Chris Johnston and Callum Connachie, bassist Joe Dodd and drummer Chelsea Wrones certainly kick up an impressive racket, but there’s moments of reflection too as they explore themes of grief, rage, desire and identity.
The spoken word intro of opener The Pleasures reminds me of Benefits before the big guitars kick in, and Limerence is a song about desire and how it can border on obsession. You can sense the pent-up tension as Price sings: “Tingling for you, are you tingling for me too or am I being too brash?”
Cardinal is about finding your own identity and delighting in confusing haters: “I have him rattled/Lace and leather has him baffled/I have him straddled/His brain cells are my fucking saddle.”
Growing up around religion is the subject of Mother Monica, which has a deliciously dirty riff, and you can hear the confliction as the co-vocalist plead: “Oh god, make me good/But just not yet.”
The toxicity of alcohol addiction is explored on Dunoon, while sexual violence against women is the topic of previous single 97%, and its message is stark: “Tell them to smile, because it might never happen/But it has and it does and it will.” –
I’m hearing hints of IDLES and Shame here, as well as the influence of artists like Turnstile and The Streets’ Mike Skinner. The co-vocalist dynamic is an interesting one too, as Price and Gordon’s vocals are at times interwoven, while going off on their own tangents at others.
There’s plenty to enjoy here, and I like their confrontational attitude a lot. 7.5/10.
