Drive Like Jehu | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Although they werent around for long, Drive Like Jehu had a tremendous impact on the evolution of hardcore punk into emo. Underappreciated during their existence in the early 90s, the band was sometimes overlooked next to post-hardcore kin like Fugazi and Quicksand; at the time, many critics also lacked the frame of reference to place their music in a broader context. The term "emo" hadnt yet come into wider use, and while Drive Like Jehu didnt much resemble the sound that word would later come to signify, they exerted a powerful pull on its development. Moreover, they did fit the earlier definition of emo: challenging, intricate guitar rock rooted in hardcore and performed with blistering intensity, especially the frenzied vocals. Drive Like Jehu was arguably the most progressive of the leading post-hardcore bands: their lengthy, multisectioned compositions were filled with odd time signatures, orchestrated builds and releases, elliptical melodies, and other twists and turns that built on the innovations of the Dischord label. The result was one of the most distinctive and ferocious sounds in the loosely defined post-hardcore movement. Drive Like Jehu were founded in San Diego by guitarist John "Speedo" Reis (who simultaneously served as the frontman for trash-punkers Rocket From the Crypt) and lead singer/guitarist Rick Froberg (aka Eric Froberg, initially credited as Rick Farr). The two had previously played together in a grungy, metal-tinged punk outfit called Pitchfork from 1986-1990, and recorded one album, titled Eucalyptus (on which Froberg used the alias Rick Fork). Itching to develop their more progressive ideas further, Froberg and Reis regrouped in August 1990 as Drive Like Jehu, taking their name from an obscure Biblical reference in the second book of Kings. The remainder of the band consisted of bassist Mike Kennedy and drummer Mark Trombino, a powerful and versatile rhythm section capable of pushing Reis and Frobergs complex, interlocking guitar patterns to even greater heights. Drive Like Jehu signed with the independent Headhunter label at approximately the same time as Reis Rocket From the Crypt. Both bands released their debut albums in 1991, and Jehus self-titled bow stood in stark contrast with its epic prog-punk song structures and wild, abrasive performances. In 1992, Jehu recorded an explosive, one-off single for Merge, "Hand Over Fist" b/w "Bullet Train to Vegas." Rocket From the Crypt signed a major-label contract with Interscope in 1994, and by some accounts, Reis insisted on a package deal in which Jehu would be allowed to sign as well: hence the highly unlikely major-label release of the cult classic Yank Crime in 1994. Another uncompromising maelstrom of technically intricate fury, Yank Crime refined the approach of its predecessor and expanded the groups growing cult audience. However, Jehu disbanded not long after its release, in part for Reis to concentrate on Rocket From the Crypt. Drummer Trombino went on to become an in-demand producer and engineer for commercially successful bands like blink-182 and Jimmy Eat World, while bassist Kennedy retired from music and became a chemist. In 2002, Reis and Froberg reunited in the musically similar but streamlined Hot Snakes, and Reis also reissued Yank Crime on his own Swami label, complete with both sides of Jehus 1992 Merge single. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 2 Title: Drive Like Jehu Released: 1991 Tracks: 9 Duration: 44:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Caress (03:54) 2 Spikes to You (02:17) 3 Step on Chameleon (05:11) 4 O Pencil Sharp (09:42) 5 Atom Jack (02:23) 6 If It Kills You (07:11) 7 Good Luck in Jail (04:04) 8 Turn It Off (06:11) 9 Future Home of Stucco Monstrosity (03:58) |
| Drive Like Jehu : Allmusic album Review : Pitchfork was a fine enough band, but whatever happened between those days and the launch of Drive Like Jehu made the newer group a quantum leap forward, as this gripping album demonstrates. Starting with the deceptively calm then ripping "Caress," Drive Like Jehu lives up to the Biblical reference of the groups name by feeling like a heaven-sent storm taking everything along with it at 200 mph. The Rick Froberg/John Reis guitar team sound like theyve been dipped in battery acid, wired to a power station, and let absolutely loose, screaming, nervous riffs piled on top of each other and taking off for Mars. Frobergs own wild scream singing suits it perfectly, sounding like somethings about to give and leave nothing in its wake. The concluding chorus to "Spikes to You" is a call-and-response from hell, his strangled wail sounding like a last desperate cry for help, while "Good Luck In Jail" sounds even more like something from beyond a violent, horrifying wall of sound. Reis helps out himself every so often, with equally fierce results -- "Step on Chameleon" practically burns with threat both vocally and musically, Frobergs additional interjections on the chorus even more unsettling while the weirdly beautiful mid-song break takes things to an even higher level. Meanwhile, the Mike Kennedy/Mark Trombino rhythm section know when to cut out and when to go full out, throwing in a bunch of tempo shifts and changes per song without sounding like wanky prog rock wannabes. Everything is done in the service of intensity and emotion, winding everything up to explode and then explode again, as with the heart-in-throat shuddering start to "If It Kills You." Even the groups quietest moments loom with threat, sometimes just needing Kennedys bass or a soft hum of feedback, as on the start of "O Pencil Sharp," to make the point. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 2 Title: Yank Crime Released: 1994-04-26 Tracks: 6 Duration: 42:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Here Come the Rome Plows (05:43) 2 Do You Compute (07:12) 3 Luau (09:27) 4 Super Unison (07:24) 5 Golden Brown (03:14) 6 Sinews (09:07) |
| Yank Crime : Allmusic album Review : The bands second and, unfortunately, final album, Yank Crime is as worthy and awesome as its predecessor, losing not a jot in the change from independent to major label status. Including some longer, more complex tunes this time around, Drive Like Jehu is otherwise essentially unchanged, fusing brawling, crisp rhythms and high volume intensity with technical complexity, feeling like a mad science experiment gone completely out of control. Aside from the guest backing vocals on the frazzled angst explosion "Luau!" by fellow San Diego music fiend Rob Crow, its again all down to the bands four members, with drummer Trombino providing the strong, take-no-prisoners mix. Perhaps even more than the debut, Yank Crime solidified Drive Like Jehus reputation as kings of emo. While use of that term rapidly degenerated to apply to sappy miserableness by the decades end, here the quartet capture its original sense, wired, frenetic, screaming passion, as first semi-created by the likes of Rites of Spring. Whether making it short and sweet, as the surprisingly gentle instrumental "New Intro" demonstrates in three minutes, or taking time, like the nearly ten-minute conclusion "Sinews," the band wastes not a note. Frobergs sense of intense, almost accusatory delivery is astonishingly dramatic throughout, whether in full cry or with a touch of restraint, as on the rhythmic chorus of "Do You Compute." His guitar partnership with Reis is still in full cry, creating honestly epic zoned and screaming feedback roars and waves -- the aforementioned "Do You Compute" is one fine example, as is "Luau!," which builds to a awe-inspiring, eternally ascending rise. While a recording of the bands incendiary live shows would be the best way to remember the quartet, Yank Crime is a thoroughly excellent if unexpected way to bow out, artistic rock that actually, honestly, and totally rocks. | ||