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I GOT MORE CRICKETS THAN FRIENDS

From page 88 of Classic Rock Magazine July 2000

Cover of July 2000 issue.

fizzy Pearl ***** You might know this author's name, not from any previous literary works, but rather because of his 'other' career, fronting Love/Hate and LA Guns. But don't let that influence you one way or another, because Jizzy Pearl the writer offers a fascinating, well constructed insight into a warped mind that owes a certain something to his rock 'n' roll heritage, but an awful lot more to, well, a warped mind.

I Got More Crickets Than Friends is a collection of Pearl's short stories and poems, written presumably over a lengthy preiod of time. And, taking his cue from a mix of the late Charles Bukowski, David Lee Roth and Quentin Tarantino, Pearl has come up with a writing style that has pace, verve, black humour and rock 'n' roll attitude.

At his best, Pearl paints a disjointed dystopia where morals and mores are expanded and imploded to suit the individual's paranoia and taste for excess. Witness the quite brilliant 'Trust', wherein a rock star's girlfriend takes extreme measures to ensure she can never again doubt the monogamy of her beau. Or 'Coffee', a distended dissertion on the dangers of caffeine addiction. Or 'The Witches', a cautionary tale of libido and the supernatural.

Although there are one or two duffers here the concluding 'A Drunken Christmas Carol' really fails in its attempts to subvert Dickins' original and 'The One That Got Away' again just fails to rise above the cliché of the devil undermining a street corner preacher overall, the standard is amazingly high, Pearl's use of language displaying a deft, original if slightly disturbed touch. And when he really gets into a groove, Pearl really holds up a distorted mirror to humanity's foibles, fables and failures. You will chuckle with an almost embarrassed feeling at how he deals with the subject of cannibalism in 'Poi Pot-Pie', and 'Bush' is a most original treatment of the dangers inherent in groupiedom. And the sordid 'Angel' is a story of female revenge through sex that might well have some people reassessing certain elements of their lives.

How much of all this is based on Pearl's own life experiences one can only conjecture some stories will naturally be closer to being biographical than others but none of this really matters in the end. The quality of imagination and storytelling is so high it transcends such detail.

Ultimately, this is the sort of book you can easily read in one sitting. If you like to stray on the hedonistic side of life's gangplank, then this collection will serve as both testimony and warning.

If you want to buy a copy, then access Jizzy Pearl's website at: www.kingjizzo.com it's well worth the visit.

Malcolm Dome