It took two years for L.A.’s Jail Weddings to secure their first show at the Casbah. Lining up their second gig at the legendary San Diego venue took only a few days.

“[The Casbah] finally bit, putting us on a sort of mismatched bill,” said lead singer Gabe Heart of their show last month. “But the place was almost sold out, and the response was so good that they wanted us back ASAP.”

That type of enthusiasm from a venue of the Casbah’s stature is hard to come by, and San Diegans will get their chance to see what all the fuss is about when the 10-piece returns to the venue on May 15.

Fans of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound pop will find much to love about Jail Weddings. The band picks up where 1960s doo-wop left off, crafting nostalgic, sweeping ballads with a modern, punk-rock edge.

Their retro aesthetic emerged fully formed on a rugged pair of 7-inch singles, but their new five-song EP, Inconvenient Dreams, finally marries their lush sound with the crisp production it deserves. Songs like “Cheat on Your New Lover With Me” and “These Fleeting Moments” are propelled by jangling guitars and splashing percussion, but it’s the band’s talented trio of female backup vocalists that sends them into the stratosphere.
If the songs sound half as good live as they do on Inconvenient Dreams, their show at the Casbah is not to be missed. Local punk trio The Glossines are opening, and one-man bizarro band Bob Log III is headlining. Tickets are on sale here, so don’t squander your second chance to fall in love with Jail Weddings. Of course, if they want to come back to San Diego again next month, that’s fine with us too.

By Chris Maroulakos