Introducing: Jail Weddings’ “(I Can’t Wait to Get to) Nowhere”

Proto-punk legend Tav Falco (of Tav Falco’s Panther Burns) shares his thoughts on the L.A. band’s latest.

“(I Can’t Wait To Get To) Nowhere” launches a melodic cathedral of angst that Gun Club could have only dreamed of. When you ratchet up Roland Howard about 10 notches, you approach the whirling, schizoid-edged Theremin hexed tones and the savageries of Gabriel Hart’s infernal scream that strip your brain totally senseless. THEN enter a realm unexpected, delirious, articulate, and anthemic of a burlesque of furs, bangles, and lace that unravel into solemn Zen oath proclaimed by backing vocalists Mary Animaux and Kristina Benson, “It’s not a question of half-full or half-empty, when we’re all part of nature and nature is always hungry.” I want to hear more and more. Left dangling by pure psychedelia at the ’60s end, I hear Jail Weddings raise the black banner of the screeching anarchist cat arched in utter fright of the void. Jail Weddings takes us there to the very tip of the abyss, joyous, fierce, abandoned, no one at the controls, no one knows, no one cares, NOWHERE. Beyond, Eden awaits us, but yes, it is assuredly wilted and damp and voluptuous, like making love under the noonday sun in a tropical forest, et la petite mort ensuite.

Jail Weddings are much more than a just a band — they are a bona-fide gang, a swaying precarious study into the extremes of human behavior, a walking, wailing “musical” happening in real time. Their third full-length album Wilted Eden is out September 2019.

(Photo Credit: Lisa Johnson)