Artist: Gene Loves Jezebel
Title: Dance Underwater
Genre: Gothic Rock
Release Date: 30th June 2017
Label: Westworld Recordings
Album Review
GENE LOVES JEZEBEL seemed to be just about everywhere during the post-punk / gothic rock explosion of the mid-eighties in the UK. It was hard to avoid the pouting, sulky chops of the Aston brothers as they breezed in and out of the music press in a wash of colour, hairspray and attitude. It was a classic story of style over substance, however, as the band rarely had the songs to back up the swagger and they were remembered more as a curious footnote than for era-defining music. America loved them though, so over there they went, and after splitting up, reforming, bickering and getting messy with lawsuits, the band now exists in two separate forms, which is really like diluting an already weak soup.
‘Dance Underwater’, then, is the latest release from the Jay Aston fronted wing of the band, and despite the album cover, which promises something darkly beautiful, perhaps a bit ethereal, this is really just a pop record. The first hurdle to overcome is the voice. Always a rather strange sounding vocalist, at times Mr Aston is barely-in-key, and the irritating whoops and vocal tics that pepper the songs just exasperate the situation. There’s even a vocoder used on opening song ‘Charmed Life (Never Give In)’ as if this is a new idea that, y’know, just might catch on. It’s an excruciatingly bland song, dated, boring and sadly setting the benchmark for what’s ahead. ‘Summertime’, that follows, is even worse. The singing is utterly awful, like a teenage boy whose voice is breaking, and even the boppy chorus and ‘whoa oh oh’s’ can’t save it. There’s also a cheesy piano break and half-arsed guitar to complete the abysmal picture.
Does it get any better? Sadly not. Even the song titles seem stuck in some long gone era - ‘Cry 4 U’ ? Oh dear. ‘IZITME’? Yes, very clever. The latter is also lyrically embarrassing - try listening to this without a groan and a head-shake. On ‘World Gone Crazy’, there’s a spirited attempt to make a good solid pop song, but again, the banal lyrics, tired sounding rhythm section and lack of a killer tune soon deflate this one. Closing song ‘I Don’t Wanna Dance Underwater’ is an attempt to nail the big ballad, and it’s the best thing on this mess of an album, although even this is held back by a void of passion and lacklustre production. In many ways then, GENE LOVES JEZEBEL remain true to their origins. Looking good and nicely packaged but hollow and empty to the core. This flaccid and boring collection of tedium is a challenge at best, an endurance test in reality. Leave this one well alone.
Tracklist
01. Charmed Life (Never Give In)
02. Summertime
03. How Do You Say Goodbye
04. IZITME
05. Ain’t It Enough
06. Cry 4 U
07. Flying
08. World Gone Crazy
09. Chase The Sun
10. I Don’t Wanna Dance Underwater
Line-up
Jay Aston
James Stevenson
Pete Rizzo
Chris Bell
Website
http://genelovesjezebel.co.uk / https://www.facebook.com/OfficialGeneLovesJezebel
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 2
Sound: 6
Total: 4 / 10
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