The caustic unconscious, Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo", tightropes/balance.
Sounds Like
A heated argument in a car parked on Lover's Leap where everyone wins while the Shangri-La's and Flesheaters blare through blown speakers. The most embarrassing diary in the world somehow gets left behind the scene of the crime. Coppers laugh and cry simultaneously...Narrated by Henry Miller, brought to you in part by Bubblicious. SMACK!! .............................
Jail Weddings
Somebody Lonely
Revenge/Red Wine
Los Angeles ten-piece Jail Weddings have finally put stylus to vinyl and released something you can actually take home and snuggle. Known for their barn-storming live shows, their newish 7”, “Somebody Lonely b/w The Honeymoon Loop,” somehow mashes the group’s giant sound onto a tiny piece of plastic. Band-leader Gabe Hart takes charge of A-side “Somebody Lonely,” and somehow manages to evoke both Elvises (Costello and Presley, not Stojko—though both are consummate showmen) in his delivery, while the band’s admirably Spectorian arrangements makes it nearly impossible to tell when the hell this song was recorded. Vocalists Katya Hubiak and Tornado Jane take over on “The Honeymoon Loop,” another lost girl-group classic about the realities of modern love. Brad Caulkins is a real standout on this track as his shifty sax honks out a nimble yet evil sounding solo that personifies the post-good time nausea the song is about. Bad news is, there’s a good chance this 300-print record is gone already. But can a full-length be far behind?
— Patrick Newsom, LA Record
Beneath the facade of the naive, more obvious notions of being in love forever, going steady while sharing a two-strawed soda, or learning that hot new dance craze at the fucking hop or whatever, there always seemed to be an unmistakably more darker, tragic energy at work...a far more contemplative, gazing out the window alone, trial-by-fire grand realization that all good things must come to an end, that underneath this solid ground we stand on lies Hell's salivating mouth. And it was this ever-present threat of death to this kind of wide-eyed romance and idealism that gave that music the kind of urgency and excitement it was known for. The twisted instinct to make those sweeping chords out of their own voices was the sort of alchemic weaponry designed to counter-attack this constant creeping sense of loss and general chaos of the warped forces of nature that they all had begun to realize was waiting for them with dripping fangs. It was a certain tubercular teen-pop psycho-kinetic energy for all intents and purposes...all those displaced sexual hormones they knew not what EXACTLY to do with, the embrace of their complete lack of control and the constant "Why Me?" tantrums mixed with a total denial of responsibility for their own actions could ONLY suggest that those who carried this mandatory curse then and through history might very well be possessed by the exact rigid morbidity that casted spells on billions and moved our flesh and bones in some very unpredictable ways....
JAIL WEDDINGS have taken on the burden of being the 10-member-deep spokespeople for this unique musical atmosphere. With the end of his post-Starvations project Fortune's Flesh, singer/guitarist/songwriter Gabriel Hart has gathered like-minded adventurers (including fellow members of The Starvations, Flash Express, The Sun, Grand Elegance, Terrors, plus some noteworthy newcomers) to round out the line-up of his new outfit, which has mastered an updated take on the darker side of the '60s pop/R&B/vocal corner with the unshakable swamp-punk leanings The Starvations were known for, all combined with the sheen of a certain grandiose mean-streak mutant torch song drama.
Less than a year into their inception they released their debut single "Somebody Lonely" b/w "The Honeymoon Loop", two of the groups more upbeat numbers that explore their '60s girl-group fetishism but through more of a timeless eye. The single promptly sold out in less than a month's time with ZERO radio play or ad campaigns, relying almost solely on the runaway train word-of-mouth the band has effortlessly garnered through their dramatic live act that's been described as "like tuning into a soap opera half-way through the season and trying to put all the pieces of the plot together..." and "pounding sweaty malevolence" (LA WEEKLY).
Their follow-up single "The Spell Has Lifted" b/w "People Like Us (Are Extinct)", to be released in Winter '08 by Echo Park upstart label Albino Crow, spelunks the more shadowy side of the group's sound. "The Spell Has Lifted" is a soul-frying, frantic, teetering on claustrophobic romp (yet undeniably catchy!) through an all-too familiar modern-day noir tale of vinegared L.A. regret, culminating in a sweeping 3-part harmony chorus throughout until the final dizzying climax. The B-side "People Like Us (Are Extinct)" could only be described as a chamber-music gang-war declaration, this time the lead vocals split 3 ways in each wailing verse by Gabriel, Katya Hubiak, and Tornado Jane. The booming timpani making its presence known in this tune only further shows that this band is clearly giving us all something much more than the sound of a mere penny rattling in our collective cup.
Early 2009 we see Tornado Jane replaced by the Wanda Jackson-esque pipes of local hypnotherapist Jada Wagensomer, along with Gabriel's longtime bandmate Ian Harrower replaced by Watts Ensemble's Brian Watson on drums. The band publicly layed low a bit as they worked Watson / Wagonsomer in and continue recording...
Fast forward to late summer of 2009, where they will finally relieve all hair-pulling anticipation to see release of their debut 5-song EP "Inconvenient Dreams" (White Noise/Tru-Vow). Mixed and co-produced by Blues Explosion's Russell Simins, this EP was taken from a 19+ batch of songs they have spent the last year recording (the others to appear on their debut full-length "Love Is Lawless" due early next year). The result is an emotionally whip-lashed 13-minute glimpse into all the dusty neon-lit avenues of the group's insular map, guided by their own tireless mood swings. From the opening upbeat rave-up of "Cheat On Your New Lover With Me" to the stark confessions of "I Am Fucking Crazy", pulling from influences as disparate as Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bruce Springsteen, Shangri-La's, and Bauhaus, "Inconvenient Dreams" catches the group traveling even farther down their own distinct path of no return.
"Jail Weddings are unreal—full disclosure is that I respect Gabe Hart (Starvations/Fortune’s Flesh) a lot and here is the band he was born for. Nine-piece revue with himself and two wild ladies up front—Katya the incandescent blonde and Tina the bombshell brunette—and a band that is Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew from X’s Los Angeles. Their good songs are as good as any good band and their best songs are an honor and a privilege: Gabe in silver tie with basso boom like Roy Orbison (!) hauling a song across his shoulder with the opener, “Somebody’s lonely . . . !” and the band (with violin and sax and keys) and the girls pop in on the exact same sha-la-la behind him. No gimmick—instead the total real deal, with Katya and Tina and Gabe all splitting solos (just like my Wailers at the Castle LP) off their righteous heartbroke big-beat big-chorus California rock & roll. " - Chris Ziegler, The District Weekly/LA Record
ahem.... katya. call me when you get back from tour. the familia misses your hotness and even coldness. its cold in here lately. xo. hope tour is going well
Saturday night in Seattle and in a couple more days....exhaustion will be finally beaten down by sleep and rest and recovery! Your party days are numbered and your fingers are bloodied, and your voices rasp like old rusty tools! Narcolepsy is on your side!
hey! cheers to street run-ins! also, I posses a couple pixs featuring I think a couple jail weddings members at the premier 2008 easter eggstravaganza of the echo park ornitho......... that I'm plotting to throw on the net sometime in the future.
