Jack Off Jill

Clear Hearts Grey Flowers (Risk)
by Scott Hefflon

Yikes, when the hell did Jack Off Jill get so heavy? I recall their “female Marilyn Manson” schtick boring me all the way to the used CD store (and picking up a Twix with the change cuz it had two schticks and more crunch), but Clear Hearts Grey Flowers is produced by ex-NIN guitarist Chris Vrenna, and that seems to make a world of difference. And while their new nü metal styling is still more groove than grunt – even when pulling the old trick of having sexy/breathy vocals layered like sweet icing on the cupcake – Jack Off Jill has a few more tricks in their bag than the interchangeable mono-riffers they call peers. For some reason, I think of Drill – a band fumbled so badly (by a major? ‘Magine that!) you’ve probably only heard of them in retrospect now that the singer’s in MDFMK – mixed with Kittie, simply cuz there aren’t a whole lotta all-girl nü metal bands out there. Jack Off Jill screams, they roll around in stripped-bare grooves, they whisper and pant and breathe in your ear, then they lick your earlobe softly before driving a metal rod through your skull.
(510 Ridgewood Ave SE #1 Atlanta, GA 30312)