If Brian Wilson claimed his unfinished masterpiece Smile was a teenage symphony to God, then Jail Weddings long anticipated debut full-length, Love Is Lawless, would be more of a middle-aged symphony to God that screams towards the sky cursing his very name.

Jail Weddings debut full-length album, Love Is Lawless, takes the pleading, wide-eyed romance of 60’s pop-vocal idealist tantrums to subterranean levels never previously seen in this genre. A shadow has been cast over the fleeting Utopia of modern love, where we still wear such out-of-date traditions as marriage and monogamy like shackles on a chain gang. Who better to have cast this shadow then Jail Weddings – a soul-stricken modern day Wall Of Sound rock and roll behemoth, comprised of ten (yes, 10) grown men and women who at least have the guts to admit they have still have the emotional stability of an eternally wounded teenager?!?!

Fronted by Gabriel Hart (the explosive frontman and mastermind behind the now defunct LA noir punks The Starvations), Jail Weddings is often described as “Nick Cave fronting The Shangri-Las.” The band has carefully crafted these 13 songs over a three year period (since their actual inception in the summer of 2007), to be released this October on the still skidding heels of two sold out singles and last year’s critically acclaimed EP, Inconvenient Dreams (White Noise/Tru-Vow).

Sure they may siphon from the 60’s pool, but do not confuse Jail Weddings as any kind of mere throwback act. The sphere of influence is vast, from the grandiose Scott Walker-esque soundscape of the album’s existential opener “How Am I Alive?” to the E-Street Band gone to Hell epic “I Thought You Were Someone I Knew”, to the Sparks meets Meatloaf bombastic melodrama of “What Did You Do With My Gun?”, the band proves its sound is unique as it is limitless.

Though vastly theatrical in its scope, Love Is Lawless is sprinkled with moments of quieter reprieve as well, with Hart’s folksy “One Of These Days?” where he and his vocal bookends (Katya Hubiak and Jada Wagensomer) simply gather around one single acoustic guitar. “Eavesdroppin’ finds Hart and band arranger Brad Caulkins (of LA based band Fool’s Gold) drunken busking free-jazz under a brooding vocal, before the impending “Staring At The Stars” suddenly sneaks up from beneath, making the album explode back into high gear till its unnerving, determined conclusion “The Impossible”.

• NBC San Diego: Jail Weddings Lay Down the Law
• Flavorpill: Jail Weddings Record Release Show
• LA Times: Pop & Hiss: 72 Hours: Jail Weddings Among The Weekend’s Most Notable Concerts
• LA Weekly: Jail Weddings Record Release Show Preview
• Buzz Bands: Ears Wide Open: Jail Weddings