ALBUM REVIEW: Hella – Just Friends
A lot of emphasis is placed on a group’s first full-length record. It’s their introduction to the world after all. While this creates a pressure cooker around the debut, it also weighs heavily on the second record. Was the first album a fluke? Funk rock crew JUST FRIENDS hope to deny the doubt and naysayers with their sophomore record, Hella. The Bay Area octet offer up 12 tracks of genre meshing across a 38-minute runtime, and we’re fed a lot of expectations with the follow up of 2018’s Nothing But Love. Theatrical brass sections, slick R&B, and funk ’til you drop with slivers of hard rock. Lending themselves to such varied and high expectations leaves a chasm for JUST FRIENDS to fall into.
Love Letter leads us into a bright and cheerful atmosphere. Their trademark funk driven basslines add a sense of sass to Brianda “Brond” Goyos Leon’s dreamy vocals. “I think you’re real cool/ I’m just a love fool” she states in the, at times cheesy, ode to happiness in love. Co-frontperson Sam Kless’ rap sections are a great counterpart, fleshing out the dynamic of the album’s opener. Love Letter pulls us into a warm embrace with the influence of GYM CLASS HEROES.
What goes up… must come down. That’s the case for love’s young dream. Shine slides in with the funky freshness PRINCE had in the 80s. Infectious rap hooks bite the flesh of those who don’t appreciate another’s romantic efforts. The tale of getting your mojo back after someone has stripped you of your power is aggressive yet uplifting. JUST FRIENDS’ mojo is short lived however as Hella rolls along. Fever confuses itself with rushed, punk rock vocals over instrumentals constructed to chill out to rather than get riled up over. Hollerbox lures us into the interlude with its percussion-based intro before setting us on edge with grating auto-tuned vocals. What started as an easy listening record becomes the opposite.
Confusion reigns over JUST FRIENDS with this record. Honey’s flirtation with 90s R&B has us wanting us to smear Vaseline on our camera lenses and gyrate on some black silk sheets for a few minutes while bass heavy Hot attempts to get in our faces with boast rap bars. There is nothing wrong with flitting between the two but both have to be solid and have clear direction for them to be executed well.
Sizzle is JUST FRIENDS done well. A synth-laced hard rock intro paints the portrait of high energy boast rap. Faster rap sections hit their targets, nestling in the pockets of the song’s rhythm section. The riff does exactly what it says on the tin: sizzles. The song is by no means perfect as it doesn’t escape the odd moment of lyrical cringe but JUST FRIENDS have their niche and they own what they do.
Hella’s closing Sunflower speaks of a person wanting to know their worth and wanting to bloom with the object of their desire. It can be argued that JUST FRIENDS know their worth and bloom within their own space. That said, JUST FRIENDS’ latest effort is not for everyone. Hella is a confused conglomeration of influences and sounds which ultimately becomes their downfall. We may not have seen anything like this in the past but that may well have been for good reason.
Rating: 5/10
Hella is out now via Pure Noise Records.
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