ALBUM REVIEW: Glitter & Spit – The Pearl Harts

THE PEARL HARTS are a resplendent rock n’ roll duo based out of London who haven’t quite marched off the EP train into full length territory with speed. Having formed back in 2014, guitarist/vocalist Kirsty Lowry and drummer/vocalist Sara Leigh Shaw have spent their time honing their amalgamated craft at live shows rather than in the studio, and landing on a 70’s inspired, bluesy attitude wrapped in punk ideals has finally nurtured their debut album Glitter & Spit to life.

With a support slot with SKUNK ANANSIE under their belts and a shared love of BLACK SABBATH, THE PEARL HARTS take no time in attacking the listener with a plethora of influences that they’ve shaped as their own. Opener Black Blood sucker punches to life with a rolling wave of low-slung guitar riffs and the sluggish boom of Shaw’s drums. Immediately an aural image of Ozzy Osbourne being beaten in a bar fight by Christine Mcvie (FLEETWOOD MAC) come to mind, the slow building sludge you might find on Paranoid seems to permeate Kirsty Lowry’s vocals with ease, while the threatening onset of a raging guitar solo in follow up Go Hard offers a menacing “don’t mess with me” attitude.

At times the duo dip their toes into stoner rock/desert blues waters; huge walls of fuzz and deliberate down-tempos offer a shift in dynamic in The Rush, before galloping headfirst into more punkish throes in Lara and Hit The Bottle. There’s an anger in the former that’s cleverly juxtaposed with the bubblegum innocence found in Sara Shaw’s L-A-R-A refrain, only really rearing it’s head again in slower numbers Bonfires and Bless You where THE PEARL HARTS tender to the power of women: “Bless you/You witches/You foxes/You bitches.”

The band’s DIY approach has meant that the production quality on Glitter & Spit is lacking in a glamourous sheen, and that’s a good thing. On Lost In Time, Lowry and Shaw expose their vulnerabilities both lyrically and musically. “They say that time’s a healer/But what do they know/They say that time will let our skin grow thicker/The stronger we get the more wounds will grow/Baby it’s time to let our love show…” sings Lowry. But where such emotion should tug at the heart strings, here it stops short of it’s full emotional impact as the vocals seem to become lost in a swathe of distortion. Ramping things back up to full rock rebellion in the second half of Glitter & Spit a stomping, head-bang worthy beat shakes off sultry vocals and climaxes in pounding Skeleton Of Diamonds, while anthemic closer Hurt is the final opus that leaves little doubt that THE PEARL HARTS mean business in 2018.

Kirsty Lowry and Sara Leigh Shaw have all the elements that make THE PEARL HARTS brazen, fearless and empowering without any clichés. Without staggering on the edge of really great rock n’ roll, Glitter & Spit is really great rock n’ roll that has all of the premise to thrust the pair into the land of rockstardom.

Rating: 7/10

Glitter & Spit is set for release 23rd February via Double Bang Records.

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