Jesika Von Rabbit

 

If not for my old friend Lee being involved in this project, I probably would not have ever discovered JVR, but despite being a genre that I normally would not be interested in, this project does have its moments and would probably appeal to a wide variety of music freaks.

Jesika, formerly of Gram Rabbit, has a fine singing voice and has a talent for the keys as well as songwriting, with a healthy dose of psychedelia mixed in with her dance/trace influences. A bit of rock'n'roll, a dash of glam, and a dose of grunge noise, all adds up to a catchy, desert-themed gumbo of sounds.

There's enough dance/ EDC themes here to hypnotize the average whatever-generation-is-into-that-stuff, but there's also some real songwriting and fine musical performances to pull in other groups, as well. Although his contributions get mixed down a bit in the recordings, Lee adds enough grit'n'fuzz to keep the tunes from getting too safe. As with most groups, the live shows are definitely wilder than the record, with the addition of a live drummer and Lee's overdriven bass, along with the wacky visuals ("Wacko" in particular is pretty insane live), so see them if you can, but the album is a good memento and highlights the songs a bit more.