Jizzy Pearl (a.k.a. James Wilkinson) and his band Love/Hate released their latest album over the weekend, ending a roughly three year wait for new music from the group.  The album came Friday in the form of Punk Rock Fiesta.  Spanning eight songs, the 38-minute record is a mostly successful new offering from the veteran singer, who has also worked with the likes of L.A. Guns, Ratt, and Quiet Riot.  The record’s success comes in large part through its featured musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly.  While the record’s musical presentation offers much for audiences to appreciate, it is not without some concern.  The record’s production proves slightly problematic but not so much that it dooms the album.  It just leaves one wanting for a little more.  This will be discussed a little later.  Knowing that the production is not enough to doom the album by any means, there is one more positive to note, that being the record’s lyrical content.  When it is considered alongside the musical arrangements, that whole makes the record a presentation that while not perfect is still well worth hearing every now and then and that is still a welcome addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.

Punk Rock Fiesta, the latest album from Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate, is a mostly positive new offering from the veteran rock outfit.  Throughout the course of its nearly half-hour run time, the record offers audiences plenty to appreciate, not the least of which being its musical arrangements.  From the record’s outset, ‘You’re Gonna Burn’ to its finale, ‘Time To Take Your Pill,’ the album’s musical arrangements are fully accessible rock works.  ‘You’re Gonna Burn’ is an infectious work that is clearly one of those works presented in the style of those songs that bridged the hair metal and hard rock of the early 1990s.  Interestingly enough, it still sounds so much like so many blues-based rockers that are out there today, making it just as resonant as those songs.  ‘Eye For An Eye’ continues that blues-tinged rock vibe and is also just as heavy and infectious as other works of its ilk that are out there today on the radio and otherwise.  As the album passes its midpoint, that blues-based approach continues in unique fashion in each work.  It is not until late in the record in ‘Can’t Be Wrong,’ that the band pulls back on the energy and style.  This song opens with an almost ballad-esque approach that conjures thoughts of some of the material in Ozzy Osbourne’s 1991 album, No More Tears before turning more in a grunge sort of direction from there a la Alice in Chains.  The whole is such a stark departure that audiences will not be able but to take in the track.  From there, Pearl and company go back to that blues-based rock style and sound in the alum’s final two tracks and again in their own way.  The whole of the 28-minute musical presentation forms a relatively strong foundation for Punk Rock Fiesta, this despite the fact that there is no punk rock to be heard anywhere on the album.

While the musical arrangements featured throughout Punk Rock Fiesta collectively form a strong foundation for the album, the record is not perfect.  It does suffer from at least one minor shortcoming.  That issue is the collective production and mixing.  From opening to end, it seems like the instrumental performances overpower Pearl’s vocals.  It is not to the level of some other records out there by any means.  However, audiences who listen actively and closely will note the slight imbalance in sound levels.  It is subtle, but as the record progresses, it becomes more notable because it continues to happen in each song.  Thankfully, that the imbalance is not too powerful is a good thing.  That means it is not enough to doom the album by any means.  It just means in hindsight perhaps more attention could and should have been paid to this aspect of the record.  To that end, there is still one more positive to note here.  That positive is the record’s lyrical content.

The lyrical content featured throughout Punk Rock Festival are just as accessible as the album’s musical arrangements.  Case in point is, again, the album’s opener.  This song comes across, lyrically, as another song about a relationship having gone bad.  This as Pearl sings in the song’s chorus, “Sold off a piece of my heart, babe/Now you’re gonna burn/You don’t need to tear me apart/Just to hurt me/I don’t know what I did to deserve thee/Is all my life part of some fever dream?/Where things ain’t always what they seem?/And now here we are at the end of things.”  In the chorus’ refrain, he adds, “Why don’t’ you leave me alone/It’s all a bit too much/Don’t know why I loved you/But you’re gonna burn.”  This is pretty straight forward.  It is a situation in which plenty of people have found themselves in regard to soured relationships.  To that end, again, it is a fully relatable topic presented in a fashion that is fully accessible.

The theme of relationships gone bad permeates Punk Rock Fiesta with the topic addressed in nearly every other song here in different ways.  It is not the only theme tackled, though.  ‘Eye For An Eye,’ the album’s second entry, changes things up.  In the case of this song, it seems the song addresses the highs and lows of stardom.  This is inferred as Pearl sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “I thought we were supposed to be rich/For the rest of our lives/’Till the roof caved in and took me all by surprise/I used to be sentimental/Now I just get mental/It’s a free-for-all/All the things your money can buy/All the things I could have been/Till I found out I couldn’t swim/It’s a cautionary tale/When everything you do is for sale/Eye for an eye/Took me down/Eye for an eye/Turned me round/Eye for an eye/Sold me out/It’s hard to take, you know/It’s hard to take/It’s never hard to say goodbye.”  This points to a story of someone thinking that good life would be just that but in reality was anything but.

This seeming story continues in the song’s second verse, which finds Pearl singing, “Livin’ life in a bubble/Never seein’ the outside/When your fool’s gold is sold/Just enjoy the ride/It’s hard to take/When all your friends jump the ship/When the party ends/Droolin over the ship/Then the poor man dies/The women came and the women went/No more fame/The money spent/It’s a cautionary tale/When everything you do is for sale.”  Again, here is a tale of someone who realized the reality of the good life.  Those people who are there in the good times are rarely there through thick and thin, as Pearl points out.  Money and women coming and going is right along those lines, too, when the very music that acts make is controlled by record labels and the property thereof instead of the acts that crafted that material.  Pearl makes that perfectly clear throughout these verses and chorus, again showing the relatability and accessibility of the album’s lyrical content.  When the accessibility and relatability of the lyrics here and in the likes of the album’s opener are considered with those of the album’s other entries, the whole therein makes clear why the album’s overall lyrical content is just as important to its whole as its musical arrangements.  All things considered they make Punk Rock Fiesta a work that even despite its one shortcoming, is still another welcome addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.

Punk Rock Fiesta, the latest album from Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate, is a mostly successful offering from the veteran rock outfit.  Despite its title, there is no punk rock to be heard here, making the title a little bit of a headscratcher.  That aside, the nearly half-hour record offers much for audiences to appreciate, not the least of which being its musical arrangements.  From beginning to end, the arrangements offer lots of blues-based rock and rock that throws back to the rock that bridged the hair metal of the late 1980s and pure rock of the early 1990s.  At the same time, each composition sounds just as modern as so much of what is out there.  The result is that the arrangements form a relatively solid foundation for Punk Rock Fiesta.  While the musical material featured herein does plenty to appeal to audiences, the slight production and mixing issues that are subtly evident throughout the album detracts just a bit from the presentation.  It is not too the point that it dooms the album, but close, active listening reveals the imbalance of vocals and instrumentation in each song.  Knowing that the production and mixing concerns are not enough to doom the album, there is still one more positive, that being the lyrical content that accompanies the album’s musical arrangements.  The lyrical themes are relatively accessible and relatable from one to the next, with the majority centering on the topic of relationships.  There is at least one derivation from that topic early in the album’s run, as noted here.  All things considered the topic is approached in a way that is fully accessible for audiences.  That accessibility is sure to keep audiences engaged and entertained in its own way.  To that end, the overall lyrical content presented throughout Punk Rock Fiesta proves just as important as the album’s musical arrangements.  All things considered that collective content makes Punk Rock Fiesta one more welcome early addition to this year’s field of new rock albums.

Punk Rock Fiesta is available now through Kenyon Records.  More information on the album is available along with all of Love Hate and Jizzy Pearl’s latest news at:

Website: https://jizzypearl.net

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