Reviewing: Its Hard to be Perfect

Jesu
Why Are We Not Perfect?
Hydra Head


Justin Broadrick was in the pioneering group Godflesh, one of the first bands to show the world that metal can be smart. In some peoples minds, the band is like a unicorn, Black Sabbath and God all rolled into one. Pretty much every heavy band that matters right now owes Godflesh their very being.

After a nervous breakdown, Broadrick scrapped Godflesh and created Jesu, something somewhat toned down but still crunching and challenging. With his current project about to put out their 11th release, he is inching closer and closer to mastering his craft. On Why Are We Not Perfect? we are offered 3 brand new songs and 2 previously released but hard to find ones.

The group is slowly moving away from the My Bloody Valentine crunch that has outlined most of the Jesu brand, as Broadrick explores the space where Sunn drone meets Ride Robitussin laced hooks. It yields some good results but doesn't give enough to merit trying to get me to fork over my ten bucks. The sparse feel of these songs is well done but something like this is better experienced as the full picture and at least fills me with hope that maybe there is a LP is somewhere on the horizon.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/officialjesu