Review Summary: I Don't Wish Murder 'Cause I Got No Right
To say I was genuinely shocked by how much I reveled in my initial listen to this album is truly an understatement as I sat mouth agape at the sonic treasures I was confronted with. Prior to listening to this, I had zero knowledge of this group and had added this album to my downloads mainly because I heard a snippet of one of the tracks (don’t even remember which one) and I thought it sounded sort of like PJ Harvey. While certainly not a clone of Harvey’s by any stretch, vocalist Jojo Orme is a genuine personality with much of that shining through her dynamic, electric performances. Her expressive and passionate delivery, which takes on such a variety of forms, offers triumphant bellows and bursts at explosive sonic moments while also captivating the most quiet, serene passages with thoughtful, reserved quips. Exploring this record was nothing short of breathtaking as the diverse aural palettes spanning from electronic to trip hop to gothic rock to darkwave all weaving tightly and neatly into a 37-minute experience left me needing more and more.
Look no further than the first true song of the record, “Just to Ask a Dance’ for dynamic, dramatic songwriting with a slow buildup resembling the soundtrack for a trailer for an action flick that erupts into a powerhouse trip hop beat. Orme’s melody choices feel like heroin injected into my veins as after multiple listens, I can blissfully hum along while nodding violently to the drumbeats. It’s worth mentioning the meticulous focus producer Dan Carey into all the aspects of this record with the drums always symbiotically championing the bass work, the guitar licks cutting through the dense, dark rhythms and Orme’s vocals dynamically shifting from being front and center in more explosive sections to being a wavering constant like in the middle part of “Jacked.”
Sometimes, the influences I hear sort of stun me considering where the record has already explored like in “Mad Catch” where Orme’s more spoken word delivery during the first verse sort of feels like it carries inflections similar to early Kesha and Charli XCX. It’s just another prime example of personality and character development right before our ears; it consistently keeps my toes strong as I’m always standing on them. The middle stanza of this record is where the songwriting is at its strongest with the one-two punch of “Extraordinary Wings” into “Warplane.” The former reminds me entirely of a Sneakerpimps song from the rhythms to the repetition of the lyrics in the second half of the song but with a gothic tinge. “Warplane” begins with an energetic electronic beat with just some quiet, whispery vocals which eventually expand into 80’s post-punk worship with a sort of Molchat Doma-esque vibe to it. Lyrically, up to this point in the record, Orme has impressively kept things very eccentric with open-ended statements, wandering thoughts and such. “Warplane” offers one of my favorite lyrical passages that even at this point, I’m not 100% confident I understand the meaning of:
“The hum of death, electrified
The rats rattle in the heat of the battle
Fancy the dirt, replace from the start
Jenga for the lost and a wonderland for art”
The back half of the record remains as strong and consistent as the rest of the record beginning with “Celebrate” which sort of blends indietronica influences with a vocal performance very reminiscent of PJ Harvey (this might have been the song I heard the original snippet for.) “Smugglers Adventure” is a full-on journey with many switch ups and passages moving fluidly into more dramatic swells which dispels into a more acoustic guitar focused approach on the closer and title track “Glutton for Punishment.” While I didn’t spend too much time elaborating on these particular tracks, they are far from weak points on the record as they offer an excellent descent into completion with the title track really contributing to that feeling of finality and doing what a good album closer should do.
This is one of those immediate classics in my eyes; a record that shines in every facet of music making. It’s a record that diverts expectations, offers moments that push the envelope for songwriting in the respective genres that are explored and truly shine the most when it takes its array of influences and expounds upon them creating an entirely unique sonic experience. On top of all the nitty gritty technical proficiency of this record, it’s so catchy, every song so danceable and exciting that I can totally see this artist becoming massive. It’s deserving of your attention, and I hope any listeners out there get as much enjoyment as I did from this masterpiece.
