Arguably the more convincing incarnation of the two Gene Loves Jezebels currently operating on opposite sides of the Atlantic, Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (as they’re known in the US, where Jay’s brother Michael owns rights to the name) keep things firmly in familiar territory on their first album since 2003’s The Thornfield Sessions.
Embodied by the breezy radio rock of Summertime and Cry 4 U’s mildly overwrought bluster, there’s little of the weather-beaten defiance or vigour that peers such as The Cult and The Mission exhibited on recent efforts. Instead it’s all a bit too polished and polite.
How Do You Say Goodbye (To Someone You Love) and the gently creepy World Gone Crazy hint at bigger and better ideas, while the closing (sort of) title track cheekily pickpockets Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. But unless you think Gene Loves Jezebel were the band U2 could have been, there’s not much else to get excited about.
