Jale
So Wound
»
Jale
So Wound
Sub Pop, 1996
RiYL: Belly's King, Blake Babies, Echobelly, Velocity Girl's Simpatico |
Legend has it that the members of Halifax, Nova Scotia's Jale (4 women named Jennifer Pierce, Alyson MacLeod, Laura Stein and Eve Hartling, Mike Belitsky has sinced replaced MacLeod on drums) only learned how to play their instruments after seeing Velocity Girl in concert in 1992. Whether this is the truth or not (they don't really sound like Velocity Girl) doesn't really matter, because Jale are as technically good as bands who have been around two or three times longer.
But lack of experience wasn't the only thing Jale had to deal with. They were quickly signed to Sub Pop and put out an interesting, noisy debut called Dream Cake, but were slammed by critics who thought their success came more from trends than talent.
Maybe, maybe not. But Jale's songs are better than 90% of the schlock purveyed on commercial radio, and their style fits in nicely with other superb Sub Pop bands like Velocity Girl, the Spinanes, Eric's Trip, etc. Fits in, mind you. That doesn't mean "sounds like."
That being said, Jale's second album, So Wound, is overflowing with pretty, soothing pop reminiscent of the Blake Babies, Sun 60, Throwing Muses and other branches of its family tree like Belly and the Breeders. This is a band that knows its limitations and doesn't attempt technical wizardry.
All four members of Jale sing on So Wound at some point, making for unexpectedly tingly harmonies. The guitars range from jangly ("Ali," "Tumble") to reverberating ("Sign Of Life") to downright simple (the jaded "Drag").
But the best songs occur when the format varies, even slightly. "Over You" finds a bouncy, plaintive bass line behind self-deprecating lyrics like "me and my successful friends will write songs...and go on road trips that are always fun." And "Storm" almost has a country feel until the thick guitars and multiple-part vocal harmonies kick in.
Pure pop-gems are always nice too, and they're in plentiful supply on So Wound. One can't help but rejoice in opener "Ali," the light-hearted "All Ready," speedy "Mosquito," and magnificent "Hey Hey."
Jale does sound overly derivative sometimes ("Despite" sounds like a bunch of R.E.M. songs), but this is a band not ashamed to salute its influences. And the members' musicianship has definitely improved since Dream Cake, a tribute to their work ethic.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"