Lil' Lost Lou / Paul Hawkins Split' (Jezus Factory). And blame the previously mentioned Suzerain release for this but its time for us here at the singled shed kitchen table to gather around and partake in the eating of humble pie because over the course of the last few weeks (and in the case of this particular release we can safely stretch that to months) the Jezus Factory imprint have peppered our door mat with some - well how shall we put this - frankly corking releases which in the next few days we will get around to expressing our absolute fondness for in print. If there's any justice in the world this would have already long since sold out of its ultra limited pressing of 200 copies - pressed on seven inches of wax with artwork by Lil Lou herself all tucked up with a CD-r - damn we want one now ourselves - mind you suppose that'll teach us for being review shy fops. Anyhow a blistering twin pronged outing featuring a cut apiece from three piece Lil' Lost Lou - the Lou in question being singer / guitarist Lou Psyche (obviously not her real name kids - the Lou bit that is) and Paul Hawkins who previously featured in these pages when he featured on that rather ripping yuletide stocking burner of a compilation 'a very cherry christmas - volume 2' from those loons with toons Cherryade. Lil' Lost Lou's 'Bad bad girl' is a scalding bone shaking frazzled psychotic bitching bluesy brew that rattles along like an out of control satanic steam train, featuring a frazzled hoe-down-ing harmonica which kids lets wise up a second in saying that aside whistles, barking, yelping and bent out of shape banjos nothing quite matches the sound of a well heeled harmonica breezily piping away literally stripping the skin of your spine. Frantic, frenetic and frighteningly infectious, 'bad bad girl' sounds like its fallen through a rip in time straight from the formative days of 60's garage beat, primitive, primal and minimalist in delivery the tension is visibly suffocating - 'bad bad girl' is your defining broken to pieces rampant country punk - think early career Orson Family meets the swamp groove of Gallon Drunk with a fast unravelling DNA spliced Dolly Parton and Kat Bjelland screaming blue murder. Nuff said. We have to admit to quite liking Paul Hawkins brand of wayward fuck off and leave alone buckled pop and so to as on 'the evil thoughts' the barbed humour is almost inescapable as he freewheels through what is essentially a quite dandy and strangely dinky drinking song, and yes we have said it before but as curmudgeon as he sounds he still comes across like a depressingly happy Daniel Johnston but with - and it has to be said - better tunes - marked out by its blankly despondent delivery and its looping repetitive underpin this will either drive you to distraction or indeed drink - we especially love the 60's styled Edwin Astley like TV soundtrack ending. One of those must have releases I'm afraid. www.jezusfactory.com

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Bad and Evil but both fcuking GREAT. Mon Jul 23 08:14:01 2007  ..> ..> ..>..> .. Rated 10 out of 13 [details]	.. Click the image for a full gallery
by Stuart Anderson
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reviews by this writer.

One half of this split release AA side is great. Annoyingly, the other half is also great. While I'm tempted to leave the review at that and get back to enjoying my cereal and vodka, I'm going to fight the pain and try to write a proper review. Aren't you the lucky one?

Lil' Lost Lou and Paul Hawkins are both London-based post-punk rockers and both excrete a genuinely dirty, raw rock energy that I've been missing for a good few years. I mean can you name a new band that's made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and make you believe that twenty five thousand ants are crawling all over your skin? No, I thought not. If you were grinning with self-satisfaction because you were thinking of Arctic Monkeys, you're an idiot. Playing guitars very fast and screaming in a regional accent doesn't constitute a rock n' roll attitude. It constitutes nothing more than playing guitars very fast and screaming in a regional accent. Surely this is obvious?

'Bad Bad Girl' is Lil' Lost Lou's contribution to this Jezus Factory 7" release and it's such a belter of a tune your stylus will weep. A fuzzy concoction of mucky Delta blues, fcuked-up country and lo-fi new wave, you can almost see the wallpaper melting off the walls of the recording studio and spontaneously combusting into a pile of ashes. Lou Psyche's uncompromising vocal is guttural, bloody and furious and serves only to tip the needle firmly into the red zone from where it never returns.

Paul Hawkins's contribution might even be better. 'The Evil Thoughts' is a bombastic, unrelenting and visceral expose of Hawkins's personal foibles, his philosophies and the trials and tribulations that plague his existence.

He's obdurate to be sure; he ignores the advice of his mother to stop drinking, he lays bare his maintenance of an approachable public façade and the ultimate belief that he is going straight to hell without passing GO and collecting £200. Big Fun it ain't.

The pounding drums and bass propel the track to a dizzying and depressing denouement and, refreshingly, there's never a sense of resolution, absolution or redemption. To Hawkins, there's only deterioration, decay and debility - which is exactly how life works.

Track Listing
01 - Bad Bad Girl - Lil' Lost Lou
02 - The Evil Thoughts - Paul Hawkins

LIL' LOST LOU & PAUL HAWKINS 'Bad Bad Girls'/'The Evil Thoughts' Jezus Factory Records (CDS 2007) www.jezusfactory.com

Interesting combination and first up Lil' Lost Lou and the song on here is punk meets country via a bit of blues! Damn catchy tune with some mean blues harp playing and a real stripped down sound. Great stuff!
Paul Hawkins may not have the greatest singing voice but the lyrics to 'The Evil Thoughts' are pure gold. They are darkly humorous and this tune is well worth hearing for the lyrical content alone.

***1/2
Jason Ritchie