JACKSLACKS: Love + Unity

Billing itself as Christian rockabilly, the twelfth album from San Diego’s Jackslacks is more akin to post-Beatles power pop crossed with a few veterans from Sun Studios, lushly orchestrated deep-pile melodies with three- and four-part vocal harmonies and the occasional virtuosic solo on electric guitar. And, yes, it’s deeply imbued with a powerful Christian message of love, humility, and forgiveness.

But when so much of what is marketed as “Christian music,” this disc places far more emphasis on the message than the music. Love + Unity reminds us that the most moving religious music has always been an equal mix of the two.

Jackslacks is the project, and stage name of former Forbidden Pigs and Hot Rod Lincoln member Chris Giorgio, who sings and plays drums, and wrote or co-wrote eight of the nine songs here.

The album opens with the shimmering “Forever,” a sort of Everly Brothers meets the Beatles with soaring vocal harmonies, a melody so rich it’s almost decadent, and the kind of guitar solo the Eagles used to play.

“Brother in Arms” is about the purest rockabilly track here, albeit rockabilly revival à la Dave Edmunds’ late 1970s work.

“Perfect Love” opens with what certainly sounds like a three-song Beatles homage. “Perfect Love” sounds like a lost John Lennon song from the Revolver sessions, both in construction and performance. There’s a great bridge that leads to what is almost a second song, certainly a second melodic theme. The use of horns on the next track, “My Dear Mother,” only adds to the Beatles vibe. “Find Your Lane” sounds like early Beatles when they were first starting to transition from a covers band.

And then there’s the vintage-sounding cover of the old Gospel chestnut, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” and by “vintage-sounding,” I mean Nashville circa 1963.

The album closes out with the roots rocker “The Unity Song,” with jangly guitars and dance-ready beat.

Love + Unity works in that space where the Electric Light Orchestra found its best work, deeply influenced by the Beatles but creating its own voice and creating something new and fresh from that influence.