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Review: Jools – Violent Delights

Jools' visceral debut merges punk, rap, and post-hardcore with intense emotion and unapologetic lyrical honesty

Jools - Violent DelightsThere is an assured confidence that oozes through Jools‘ debut album, ‘Violent Delights’. Led by co-vocalists Kate Price and Mitch Gordon, the Leicester/London sextet fuses elements of punk, metal, rap, post-hardcore, post-punk, and hip-hop into tales of addiction, identity, ambition, and more. Songs like ‘Cardinal’ charge with lyrical defiance, wrapped in an affective spoken-sung, post-punk style.

Previous single, ‘Mother Monica’, sharply rides a punk-fuelled train of sin before ‘Live Deliciously’ swaggers with bloodthirsty lust. Gordon’s words are feral and bruising, before Price’s verses flip typical gender tropes, providing a biting, commanding, and unapologetically provocative narrative. ‘Limerence’ blurs the lines of desire and desperation, maintaining the lyrically enticing theme that threads its web throughout ‘Violent Delights’. Away from its lustful spine, songs like ‘Knee Injury’ are introspective. Expressing creative frustration, it bounces between self-loathing and determination, allowing Price and Gordon to be equally confrontational and vulnerable.

If there’s anything to take away from Jools andViolent Delights,’ is how visceral their storytelling is. With its atmospheric guitars and punk n’roll surging choruses, ‘97%’ proves to be a thought-provoking highlight. Honing in on the notion that men are entitled to women, leaving them in constant fear. Gordon can’t help but apologise, although he accepts that he’s a product of the patriarchal society.

Musically, Gordon and Price are backed by a strong backline of guitarists Chris Johnston and Callum Connachie, bassist Joe Dodd and drummer Chelsea Wrones. Collectively, they support the authentic songwriting, yet often rely on a constant formula that involves plucky verses and explosive choruses. Nevertheless, this is a minor flaw in what is a vivid and evocative offering.

As a debut, ‘Violent Delights’ is undoubtedly bold and emotionally charged, but it’s not without its missteps. For all its lyrical intensity, urgent storytelling, and stylistic ambition, Jools occasionally fall into familiar patterns that dilute the impact of their more daring moments. Still, there’s more than enough promise and personality here to show that Jools are onto something. They combine emotional weight with a convincing lyrical bite, resulting in a record that’s both poetic and brutally human.

‘Violent Delights’ by Jools is released on July 4th through Hassle Records.

Find Jools on: Facebook | X (Formerly Twitter) | Instagram | TikTok | Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple MusicWebsite

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