Jeanines

Jeanines have been a near constant on the speakers around here. Their songs pair perfectly with Autumn hues. They cool the stagnant summer months, and bring a sense of longing to the infernal drag of winter. The band’s brand of indie pop; fed on a steady diet of ‘60s folk and ‘80s jangles, wrapped tight in bittersweet sighs, never ceases to be just the sound you need at any given moment. The early albums were scuffed with a scrappiness that tied them tighter to the ‘80s DIY of Dolly Mixture, Marine Girls, and Talulah Gosh, but as they’ve progressed the sound has thickened. Guitars chime in perfect clarity and the vocal harmonies have gone from tin whispers careening around the room to lush and layered embellishments that feel more indebted to ‘60s folk circles. How Long Can It Last feels like the band coming into their own, inhabiting the vision in its fullest form.

Expanded from the core duo of Alicia Jeanine and Jed Smith, the band brings live bassist Maggie Gaster into the studio. The trio turns Smith’s arrangements into fragrant frames for Alicia’s themes of personal upheaval. The album is a chrysalis of change, a beautiful backdrop to her tales of self-reflection and soul-searching. From the strings that saturate album opener, “To Fail,” to the etherial choruses of vocals on the title track and “You Can’t Get It Back,” the new album feels like a departure from the indie pop inklings that brought them into existence. Filled with dream-drenched hooks and a Brill building on a budget sound, the band has turned in a pop gem that should find its way into the arms of collectors caught up with Kathy Smith, Margo Guryan, or Sibylle Baier.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.