JLP: Strength in the Shout

The following feature is now included in our online magazine which is also available in print.

Issue #5

You can feel it from the initial burst of the drums, the first forceful snip of the guitar, the first gasp before the words come. Monster, their latest single, doesn't waste time, plunging headlong into the battered center of survival. It's raw, taut, and possesses a kind of emotional connection that only derives from having lived through it. Monster is about breaking out of an abusive relationship, getting a balance between vulnerability and hard-won power. The lyrics are like listening to someone whisper their way through the dark, fragile but unflinching. And then there's the chorus, desperate, explosive, yet somehow liberating. You can hear the release in Jelena Petener's voice as it fluctuates from shaking to soaring, a performance that is both exhausted and defiant. Everything dissolves in a fiery controlled blaze by the time the bridge comes around, leaving only the soft whisper of relief. There is something unashamed and retro about Monster that calls to mind how classic rock once shared personal tales with no shame. It blends the emotional openness of Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill with the intensity of early Paramore. But JLP's not retro, it's their own language. Funk section makes the rhythm dirty, guitars produce that low, rich, full bodied sound you've got associated with arena floors, and Jelena's singing cuts through the mix like reality cutting through noise. You get the impression this is not a radio-friendly song; it's one fashioned for liberty.

JLP formed the way all great bands do — by accident. Luka and Jelena Petener, musical complements and brother and sister in the very best sense, started in an acoustic duo with living room jam sessions. Luka, guitar-strumming fan of ACDC, Guns N' Roses, and Slash, contributed riffs and attitude. Jelena, piano-trained and choir voice, provided melody and dramatic depth. Somewhere in the process on a hot summer evening in Croatia, a jam session took on another form. That spark blossomed into a full band, and before long, they were packing Vienna's clubs, from Szene Wien to the huge Nova Rock Festival, with music that is tidy-sounding but still alive. Strong and Loud We Shout It Out, their motto, is not a T-shirt slogan to be placed upon anyone's chest. It is a credo. Each song has that same rhythm, a blend of grime, happiness, and faith in the reality that music is supposed to move the body and the conscience. JLP's tunes address the world around them: peer pressure, inner conflict, the era we are in. But they never lose their capability for enjoying themselves. You can tell, even when they are worst, that they still have fun. Monster is in the same league. It's a track for anybody who's ever been stuck, anybody who's screamed their way back into themselves.

There's build and release like in a movie, imagine the tension of Black Swan or the emotional fire of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It's music that doesn't cower from darkness but won't be afraid of finding a beat of light there. If you wish to follow JLP's family tree, you might place them alongside acts such as Halestorm, Florence + The Machine, or Nothing But Thieves, bands and artists who live for dynamics, who understand how to turn hurt into something that is commensurate with a triumph. But JLP still sound quintessentially local, based on Vienna's precision-meets-passion hybrid. Their live shows make that even clearer: they work towards perfection, certainly, but never give up the spontaneity that brings rock music to life. It's not perfection; it's authenticity.