Doo-wop,
vintage teen-pop, and all those similar musical trends for young adult
dreaming we feel were some of music's most misunderstood eruptions.
Beneath the facade of the naive, more obvious notions of being in love
forever, going steady while sipping soda, or learning that hot new
dance craze at the fucking hop or whatever, there 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 group's 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 April by Canadian indie New Romance for Kids, spelunks the more shadowy side of the group's sound. "The Spell Has Lifted" is a soul-frying, frantic, teetering on claustrophobic romp (yet undeniable 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.