Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Heartworms, the solo project of Jojo Orme, emerged from South London’s post-punk scene with the help of her legendary producer Dan Carey (Fontaines DC, Wet Leg). Her debut LP, Glutton for Punishment, refuses to be boxed into any one genre, an expansive palette of smoky pop and abrasive dance speaking to self-flagellation and overindulgence. Unlike the punks who lament post-industrialism and rising costs of living, Heartworms indulges in vices to the extreme, then relishes in the chaos.
Since her gloomy 2023 EP A Comforting Notion, she’s developed a mastery for clever wordplay and refined her haunting aura while touring with legends like Jack White, St. Vincent, and the Kills. She continues to document emotional pendulum swings with icy, detached control. But unlike her previous work, Glutton for Punishment gives listeners a quick glance behind her curtain of detachment. Vignettes of war and human suffering nod to her own internal strife and fractured family ties. Elements of gothic pop conjure Siouxie Sioux and PJ Harvey while maintaining Orme’s spiky facade.
The album slinks in with “In the Beginning,” a chilling 41-second instrumental prelude. The following track, the gripping “Just to Ask a Dance,” nods to Orme’s fascination with military history. Underneath the metallic textures and heavy visuals lies confessions about broken familial ties, disarming insecurities, and the need to escape her war-torn reality. “Extraordinary Wings,” the second single off the album, transforms feelings of punishment and revenge into a spectacle, warning of a similar fate to listeners who succumb to their inner darkness. Amidst the doomerism, the infectious hook, “I don’t wish murder / ‘Cause I got no right,” gently appeals for peace.
Orme gives on her best LCD Soundsystem impression on standout track, “Mad Catch.” Over a thumping beat and slick vocals, she bemoans how hollow and transactional it feels to date in the internet era: “Match made in a hat / Where’s the magic in that? / It’s a mad, mad catch.” “Smugglers’ Adventure” details her fractured relationship with her mother, which ultimately led to early experimentation with songwriting. “I ended up being grounded for a year because I had a boyfriend, and I taught myself guitar,” she detailed in a press release. “It was always difficult living with her, and a punishment for me because I always had to go back to her–she was the only thing I had, parent-wise.”
Post-punk experienced a brief yet tremendous resurgence in 2022 when artists hoped to ride on the coattails of Black Country New Road’s masterpiece Ants From Up There. While Heartworms rubbed elbows with the scene’s key players, it was more about being in the right place at the right time. That period dissipated–Black Midi’s breakup was the final nail in the coffin, giving these tangential musicians their time to shine. Heartworms isn’t filling the vacuum. She’s burning it down and rising from the ashes.
Disappointing / Average / Good / Great / Phenomenal
Glutton for Punishment is out now on Speedy Wunderground.
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Giliann Karon | @lethalrejection
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