Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate raise their distinctive style again with the release of Hell, CA, with Golden Robot Records on 11 March 2022.
Since releasing their debut album Blackout In The Red Room in 1990, Love/Hate was a mainstay of the Hollywood Sunset Strip. Their debut album was voted record of the year by both Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazines and the band would go on to release five records in the ’90s and tour with bands such as Skid Row, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC.
Jizzy Pearl has kept the band alive with his own version of Love/Hate, and from the opening of new album Hell, CA, you sense a version of the band on fire. One Hot Minute is a great guitar-led stomper, showcasing Jizzys vocals in great form.
The Zeppelin-styled Acid Babe, maybe themed with Sunset Strips’ entertainment styles, leads to Gonna Take You Higher, a recent single. The song is about Jack Parsons, one of the pioneers of rocketry aviation who also happened to be a devotee of Aleister Crowley.
Again recently, a single, Soul Mama, is one of those tracks that will sound great live. Unpinned by a beautifully simple but effective riff, the track builds to a great solo before tunning through nicely up-tempo towards the end.
Hard To Say Goodbye, and When You Gonna Come Home continues the riff-fest, the latter a great chance for the guitar solos to shine.
Last Chance, “You know, you know, you know, you’re gonna hate me”, is firmly in acoustic guitar ballad territory and suitably splendid for waving those lighters in the air.
The track Wanna Be Somebody is the story of a girl seeking fame and fortune in the bright lights of Hollywood but ends up dancing on the dark side. It is one in a decent pair finishing up the album.
Hell, CA is a really solid album. Jizzy’s voice is in great form, and with great backing from the band, this is a good listen. With the Sunset Strip ’80s debauchery a very distant memory, Pearl is flying the flag in some style. One can imagine that live, this album will be stonking great fun.
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