Album Review: Gay For Johnny Depp 'What Doesn't Kill You, Eventually Kills You'

Reviewed by: Kelly Murray

Skiddle rating: 4/5

Released: 14th February 2011 

If there's one thing sure to guarantee a warm, ney, almost acidic feeling in your belly on Valentine's Day, it's not the over-kill of melt-in-your-gob chocolates, (well, it might be) but it is certainly the simple truth. Even if that truth is an erotically challenged, musical debauchery project, the kind that only New York City could breed and then boast of to the rest of the world.

Following 07's Politics Of Cruelty, we are today graced with the genius honesty of GFJD's sophomore album What Doesn't Kill You, Eventually Kills You. It's laden with bravery and nausea, evolving from a controversially homoerotic slant on hardcore into perhaps an even bigger artistic minefield within the genre; they're funny yes, daring and adventurous with kick-in-the-nuts artwork and videos of toxicity, but now, they've enrolled Cupid to hiss the message that they're also really quite good at making records second time around.

Pucker up, less the soppy-by-nature, for these Brooklyn boys are dirtier than ever. Current single 'Suckcess' basks in an underbelly of gritty basslines and is inspired by material you probably wouldn't want your Gran to see a slide show of. Their torch for humour is now on full beam, shining a light of exposure on anything remotely mediocre, after all, is art of this calibre not meant to shock?

'Nine Inch Males' (Born To Hate) is a swift nod in the over-commercialised direction of Trent Reznor and 'Pink Flag' is 108 seconds of abusive thoughts, truly a Valentine's epidural should you require one. The New Yorkers retain their scremadelica punk vibes on this album, but it somehow seems so much fuller in statement, which is an achievement considering they hardly crept into out lives quietly in the first place.

If you didn't think you could take GFJD too seriously, good, because you shouldn't. However, you may value and recognise their law-defiant talents (they quite possibly hate the media which makes us have a massive crush on them) for making progressively interesting hardcore with literally more balls than a Wimbledon test run. Who else would dare?

Oh, and this album has also given a somewhat messy birth to one of our favourite song titles so far this year, 'Humility Is For People Who Don’t Comprehend Their Own Mortality'. Funny how breaking so many rules can make you sickeningly sensible. 

Catch Gay for Johnny Depp at Brighton's The Revenge on February 26th. Tickets are available below:

Tickets are no longer available for this event