What’s bold? Releasing your debut as not just an EP, but as a double EP. Berlin’s Jealous did exactly that with their Lover / What’s Your Damage? release for Oliver Ackermann‘s Dedstrange label. It’s a wild mix of shoegaze, synthwave, post-punk, art rock, and other things you can’t quite define.
Uri Rennert‘s heartbeat drums on “K-Hole II,” the opening track of the Lover EP, set up a dark tone for the entire record. Paz Bonfil‘s guitar is perfectly suitable for a spaghetti western villain’s theme music. Adi Kum‘s vocals spin around you like playful ghosts. Her bass on “Blackeye” is thick enough that it might give you one. “Debbie Downer” has, as you can imagine, a dark vibe, and the fast and furious “Fast Cars” isn’t a cover of the Buzzcocks rocker, but rather a fierce rocker of their own with Bonfil’s guitar sounding like he’s strangling it at some points. It builds to a wild pace, with Rennert almost dismantling his kit as he plays.
Kum’s somewhat grumpy bass starts off “Gravity,” the first song on the What’s Your Damage? EP. It builds to a heavy-hitting, pulsing track that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go for about four minutes. “Cowboy ‘Kelly’ Katastroph” is a straight-up post-punk bliss, as is “Sharp Bones / Broken Claws” – with Bonfil’s guitar riffs as sharp as its title. “Slaughterhouse 3000” ups the fuzz a bit and the playfully bratty vocals even more. The EP ends with “Thunder,” which highlights the dual vocals from Bonfil and Kum.
It’s good stuff, and many thanks for Dedstrange for bringing it to us.
Keep your mind open.
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