Fast, furious and packing far more of a sonic punch than most anything I’ve heard out of the mainstream lately, Jupiter in Velvet’s “Not Again” is definitely one of the more brutish moments to behold in Punk Goes the Velvet, but I wouldn’t say it’s the lone track sporting some muscle in this latest EP from the acclaimed solo project. Punk Goes the Velvet is everything its title would suggest it could be and more, supporting a lot of tenacity that comes across a lot more intensely than it ever has in his previous work. Though as eclectic as ever, Jupiter in Velvet is perhaps at his most connected with the medium in this most recent studio offering, letting his hair down and embracing the hum of the amplifiers like never before.
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There’s a lot of focus on rhythm and the overall attack behind the microphone in “Please Don’t Ever Let Me Go” and “And so the Earth Stood Still,” and I think it’s important to recognize just how uncommon a formula these songs feature in comparison to what a lot of Jupiter in Velvet’s contemporaries have been doing lately. He’s all about the little details in this record, and while it’s only an extended play, it doesn’t feel lacking in substance or cornerstone content at all. This is more than a teaser – it’s the genuine foray into heavier rock sounds that a lot of critics (myself included) had hoped to hear from its creator at one point or another.
The instrumentation is very much an extension of the lyrical rebellion in the latter-half tracks “Dimestore Suave” and “Get Out,” the former of which has the cosmetics of a Replacements cover with all the gnarled attitude of Iggy Pop sewn into its bones. There’s a general sense that Jupiter in Velvet was looking to pay tribute to a lot of his influences in this piece that had perhaps gone unnoticed in his past works, and although it’s obvious what kind of records he was spinning in the time leading up to his latest trip to the recording studio, I wouldn’t say any of the content on this EP sounds even remotely fake or recycled from another source. He’s the real deal, and if he wasn’t universally regarded as a credibly versatile player beforehand, I think he will be in the wake of this record’s success.
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I only just recently got my hands on a copy of Punk Goes the Velvet for myself, but I must say I definitely think it’s another stirring set from a chameleon-like Jupiter in Velvet almost certain to get the attention of his diehard fans and critics the same this autumn. 2020 has been a very eclectic year musically, and with a little more exposure from the mainstream press, I think a studio wizard like Jupiter in Velvet has a strong shot at breaking into the primetime at long last with this latest offering. He isn’t backing down from experimentation for anything in this record – on the contrary, he’s going bolder than ever.
Loretta Kim