Despite comparisons to Fleetwood Mac, this Australian four-piece are more more Banshees than Buckingham-Nicks
Hometown: Sydney.
The lineup: Hayley Mary (vocals), Heather Shannon (piano, keyboard), Nik Kaloper (drums), Samuel Lockwood (rhythm guitar).
The background: Yesterday we felt as though we had been blindfolded, then spun round several times, and dropped in an unknown land without a map or compass, but we made the effort because Shabazz Palaces is worth it. Today we're in more familiar territory, mainly because interest in the band in question is growing ? there was apparently a crush to see them at The Great Escape in Brighton last week, which suggests a breakthrough is imminent.
You can see why. The Jezabels are operating in vaguely the same territory as the Pierces, and we know the latter are struggling to match acclaim with actual sales ? you can tell the record label is desperate when you see a lauded act being lionised by Bill and Sian at breakfast ? but somehow what they do feels commercial even if the market for their sound no longer exists: the MOR market, the one colonised by Fleetwood Mac in the 70s and 80s.
Both the Pierces and the Jezabels have been compared to Fleetwood Mac, but this Australian four-piece who met at university in Sydney offer a far rockier and gothier take on freeway rawk than the Alabama sisters ? they're more Banshees than Buckingham-Nicks. And singer Hayley Mary's voice is more strident than husky, with some of Siouxsie's sternness and the blaring power of Florence Welch or Claire Maguire. That's when she's good. When she's bad, she's shrill. Then there are her lyrics. She is capable of pithy piquancy: "All that really matters is love/ But if it's all that you really care about, then tough," she sings on She's So Hard, a line almost worthy of Chrissie Hynde in her sassy heyday. She can also be the fifth-form poetess of your worst nightmares ("And so the shattering shards of glass fell/ And glistened this way and that ... I'm an empty hourglass in the sand") and quite stunningly jejune (ditto the band's own term for their music: "intensindie"). As she warbles on Mace Spray, "She keeps mace spray because you can't rely on the common man", which is about as useful as Ken Clarke on the subject. On Hurt Me, she wonders, "Is that a vulture, tell me that's a vulture, standing besides you. And do you see your own face in his eyes?" and you think, Oh, that is bad.
The music is similarly split between OK and 'orrible, between dexterous musicianship and an amateurish racket. They can be powerful, but they can be awfully plodding and predictable. Sahara Mahala isn't quite as torrid as it thinks it is. On Dark Storm, which in places is like Paramore if they stopped pounding and let the vocals breathe, there is this inadvertently hilarious moment where Mary sings about "the rolling sea", which leads to a sea of rolling cymbals from the drummer. He's a bit handy, is Mr Kaloper. There's a point in many of their songs, such as Unmarked Helicopters, when he, to coin a technical drumming term, goes into one. And starts, quite artfully, manhandling his equipment. And it can be impressive. Other times he just sounds like a kid bashing about on a toy set he got for Christmas. They're a bit clunky and end-of-term school band. But this might, for some, be part of their charm.
The buzz: "Her sweet yet hauntingly beautiful voice swells around you like a hurricane before gently placing you back down" ? sputnikmusic.com.
The truth: Siouxsie sings Rumours? It's all yours.
Most likely to: Go their own way.
Least likely to: Tango in the night.
What to buy: Debut UK single Hurt Me is released on 16 May.
File next to: Heartthrobs, Florence, Pierces, All About Eve.
Links: myspace.com/jezabelsband.
Friday's new band: Inna.
Carol Grow Erika Christensen Emilie de Ravin Tara Reed Avril Lavigne
No comments:
Post a Comment