Jale Compilations

Yes, I’m once again going to talk about Jale, mainly because I found another one of their songs. Jale was actually on many compilations, often filled with either other Halifax bands or all female bands. Most of them also contain the original line-up of Jennifer Pierce, Alyson MacLeod, Laura Stein, and Eve Hartling.

I already talked about Never Mind the Molluscs and a little on Pet-Kout-Koy-Ek: Songs for a River, so I won’t be metioning them again.

FROM GREER TO ETERNITY 1994

This vinyl is one of the compilations filled with female artist. The first track is “Childcatcher” by Lush. This is a nice track filled with some good vocals. “Beautiful” By Ivy is one of my favorite tracks on here. We get wonderful guitar work and some excellent vocals. Solar Race’s song “I Feel” I’m not that impressed by. While still decent, the riff isn’t that catchy. Splendora brings things back up with “Breeze” which has nice guitar riffs. Jale performs an alternate version of “Nebulous” on here. As I mentioned, I like this version better, it’s a littler bit slower paced and we get added vocals. The guitars also sound a little nicer. The last track “Christmas” by fuzzy is an acoustic tune, though I find it a little bland.

MURDERECORDS EP 1995

I’ve recently found out about this thanks to Discogs. Unfortunately, this vinyl is incredibly rare and is usually unavailable or over $100. Luckily, a YouTube user called MCBucky4 uploaded the songs.

The first three songs are covers. The Super Friendz sings Al Tuck’s “One Day the Warner.” Jale covers Leonard Cohen’s “Frightened Of.” And Thrush Hermit sings “West Island Rockers” by The Local Rabbits. Both the Super Friendz and Jale do a great job on their covers. Thrush Hermit I can’t tell since I can’t find the original Local Rabbits version (I can barely find any of their stuff to be honest.)

The last track is “By Design” by Buck 65 (back then known as Stinkin Rich.) I usually ignore this track simply because I’m not a big fan of Rap.

Ashley MacIssac HI HOW ARE YOU TODAY 1995

Okay, I know this isn’t really a compilation, but I feel it’s worth mentioning.

Ashley MacIssac (who’s actually a guy) is a Canadian fiddler, who often plays to rock music. This album has him performing with multiple artists, one of them being Jale in the track “What An Idiot He Is.” Unsurprisingly, this is my favorite track on the CD, and also the only track on here with Ashley singing. The song has a bit of a country tune with some entertaining lyrics, but still keeps a bit of the Jale style with the distorted guitar and excellent vocals from the girls.

There are a couple other compilations with Jale’s songs, but they’re the same tracks from their albums and singles, while the other artists’ songs are just as accessible. The only Jale song that I’m having trouble getting is “More or Less” which is featured on a compilation called “Nectar” which is unavailable right now, and no site has it for me to listen to it. 

*EDIT*

Volume Eleven 1994

I actually found an alternate version of "Steppin' Out". This version seems to have cleaner guitars and is sung by Alyson and Eve instead of Jennifer. I haven't listened to the rest of the album, but when I do, I'll talk about it.

*EDIT*
It turns out that the "Steppin' Out" and "Nebulous" tracks originally came from a Promise promo EP. Of course it doesn't help that it's incredibly rare.

The Stranglers 70's Albums

The Stranglers is an amazing band, three of the members still going since 1974 while Hugh Cornwell is performing solo. But no matter which one you listen to, the songs are still amazing. But the real gold from them has to be their four 70’s albums. While they had plenty of good songs from the 80’s to now, I feel their 70’s songs were much more creative and catchy. This sound was characterized by Dave Greenfield’s swirling keyboards, JJ Burnel’s growling bass, and the growling vocals from both Cornwell and Burnel (Though Hugh constantly used his growling vocal to the point where I thought it was a different person while JJ did different vocal styles.)

Rattus Norvegicus 1977

 

The Stranglers’ debut album was good one, though the sound is a little dated compared to the other three. The first track “Sometimes” is a catchy tune despite the harsh lyrics (such as “Sometimes I wanna smack your face”) with wonderful keyboard work and a nice guitar solo in the middle. “Peaches” is a very interesting tune about a stroll on the beach, which apparently got banned from radio stations. “Grip” is one of the friendlier tracks, but still has the great instrument work and nice harmonizing in the middle. “Go Buddy Go” is sung by Burnel. I really enjoy the bass work in this track. “Down in the Sewer” has amazing instrument work, especially at the end where the band builds to a frenzied crescendo. The rest of the tracks are good, but not as amazing as the ones I listed.

No More Heroes 1977

 

This is their most popular album, and I can see why as the many of the songs have a stronger sound than Rattus (though three of the tracks; "Something Better Change", "Bitching" and "Peasant in the Big Shitty" were actually leftovers.)

The album starts with “I Feel Like a Wog”, a very silly track but still a good tune with catchy guitar riffs. The title track is my favorite Strangler song and is also the most popular. We have incredible vocals, great guitar solo, and amazing keyboard work. “Peasant in the Big Shitty” is another favorite on this album. We get simple yet catchy riff for most of the song, but in the middle we have different riff with another great guitar and keyboard solo. The best part has to be Dave’s incredible vampire like vocals, and the song ends with his voice fading into a high pitch squeak as he says, “Do you like it like that?”

Other favorites include “Something Better Change”, “Bring on the Nubiles” despite the explicit lyrics, and “Straighten Out.”

Black and White 1978

 

This is my favorite Stranglers album. Here, the band started experimenting a little with their songs. The first six tracks is the “White” side, which is more upbeat and a bit quirky while the “Black” side has a darker tone and a bit messy. The last six are the bonus tracks.

“Outside Tokyo” is a bit bland but still worth listening to. The rest of the tracks are amazing. “Rise of the Robots” is one of my favorites, with the band performing at an incredibly fast speed. Laura Logic guest appears to play saxophone, which was a good touch for the track. This is also the first track where JJ doesn’t alter his voice. “Toiler on the Sea” is another favorite with excellent instrument work.

The black side is actually my favorite side on the CD due to the bizarre sound. “Curfew” has JJ handling the verses in his normal voice while Hugh and Dave sing the chorus. “In the shadows” is the weak track on the black side in my opinion. “Do You Wanna” is another one of the few Greenfield songs. We don’t get much keyboards in this track, but we still get some good instrument work from the other three. The song fades into the next track “Death and Night and Blood” where JJ sings in his deeper voice.

“Enough Time” is my favorite on the entire CD and is also the most bizarre. Throughout the song we get some nice bass riffs, mainly in the chorus and the end. In the chorus, Hugh sings the line “Have you got enough time” with Dave and JJ chanting it. In the middle, we get a morse code message; “SOS. This is earth. We are fucked. Please advise.” During this, Dave plays a weird tune while JJ does his own riff on the bass. Hugh simply strums his guitar and Jet simply continuous his drumming. As the song gets closer to the end, Hugh continually sings, “Have you got enough time” with Dave and JJ chanting along. During this, JJ changes the riff a bit with Hugh doing the same on his guitar. Dave also brings in a nice wind effect. As the song continues, JJ and Dave’s chanting gradually becomes higher pitch until the track starts slowing down until it grinds to a stop.

The six bonus tracks are good, but not as amazing as the main album. “Old Codger” sounds a bit like a country tune, which is actually sung by George Melly, a Jazz singer from the 60’s. “Tit’s” is a recording of the band at a party each doing their own solo’s when Hugh introduces each member. The best bonus track has to be their cover of Dionne Warwick’s song “Walk On By.” Here, the band actually extends it by including a long keyboard solo followed by a guitar solo.

This album was an enjoyable experience for me, and I wish the band had done something like this again.

The Raven 1978

 

This is where the band started transitioning into a more commercial sound. Here, we have a bit of the sound of the 80’s albums while played in the style of the 70’s albums. This is also where Hugh started using his real voice. This style is used in three of the tracks: “Dead Los Angeles”, "Baroque Bordello", and Duchess”, which are all very good tracks with amazing synths and bass work (Hugh actually plays a second bass in “Dead Los Angeles.)

The title track is another great track sung by JJ, using his whispering vocals for the first time. “Shah Shah a Go Go” and “Nuclear Device” are some of my other favorites.

 

All four of these albums where filled with great songs due to the amazing instrument and vocal work the band put in. While the band has started to return to this style, it doesn’t exactly have the same impact, likely due to the lack of Hugh. But I will say the songs do come close.

The Peppermint EP

Sloan’s very first release from 1992 is often ignored. The band never plays the songs from it, many fans rarely acknowledge it, and it also seems to be out of print. I find it sad because I feel it was incredibly important to the band’s history. The cover even shows the origin of their name. (Their friend Jason Larsen was often called “slow one” by his boss. His French accent made it sound like “sloan”, and Larsen would let the band use the name if he was on the cover.)

Much like their first album Smeared, the Peppermint EP is done in the messy grunge style but still manages to be enjoyable. Three of the tracks that were on Smeared appear on the EP as well; “Sugartune”, “Marcus Said,” and “Underwhelmed”. I also want to mention that Andrew Scott is the only one who doesn’t sing on here.

“Marcus Said” is the first track. The only difference with the track on here is the quality seems a bit messy compared to the Smeared version. “Underwhelmed” is done with grinding guitars and has a longer ending. I prefer the Smeared version, but the Peppermint version is still worth listening to.

Jay Ferguson sings “Pretty Voice” which is a great track, especially with its catchy chorus; “You’ve got such a pretty voice, no one wants to hear.” Chris sings the next track “Lucky For Me” which is my favorite on the EP. The guitar work is well done and vocals are excellent.

“Sugartune” seems to be the same as the Smeared version.

Jennifer Pierce sings with Chris on the last track “Torn.” We once again have some good guitar work and vocals (mainly from Jennifer in my opinion).

This was an enjoyable debut for me and I really feel it deserves more recognition.

Jale

Jale. Haven't heard of them? That's because they only lasted from 1992 to 1997. Despite having a short career, This Band put out some really solid music. 
The Band was formed by four art students in Halifax Nova Scotia; Guitarist Jennifer Pierce, Drummer Alyson MacLeod, Bassist Laura Stein, and second guitarist Eve Hartling. This band was just so good, and honestly, I feel they never really had a bad song, just ones that are weaker compared to others.


SLOAN
This is what helped the band get started (and helped me find out about Jale in the first place.) Originally, Jennifer Pierce sung back-up vocals on some Sloan songs. Those songs were "Torn" (Peppermint EP), "Marcus Said" (Peppermint EP and Smeared), "I Am the Cancer" (Smeared), and the last one being "I Can Feel It" (Twice Removed.) Jale was supposed to be the "next big thing," but that never happened due to a short career mainly caused by arguments with Sub Pop.



AUNT BETTY 1992
Jale's debut was definitely a good one in my opinion. All three songs had distorted guitars, but also had simple yet catchy riffs. "I lied" is a catchy song with a couple of good riffs. "Twisted" is my favorite on the single with great guitar riffs and great harmonies from Eve and Jennifer. The last song "Sweetness" has some great vocal shifts between Eve and Jennifer in the chorus; "Don't me sweetness," "Don't call me," and so on.
This was a great debut and it only got better from here.

SORT OF GREY 1993
These were songs I could only get on vinyl. The first song "Brother" is sung by Jennifer and Alyson. The guitars aren't as distorted as the previous album, but it's still a good song. Eve sings the next song "Emma" which is a more heavy rock tune.

NEVER MIND THE MOLLUSCS 1993
This is a compilation of four Halifax Bands, Jale obviously being one of them. The other three are Sloan, Eric's Trip, and Idee du Nord who I've honestly never heard of. It doesn't really help that I can't find anything of theirs either.
Sloan starts off the CD with their song "Pillow fight", a nice catchy tune sung by Jay Ferguson with great guitar work. This was the only song I could listen to before buying it thanks to YouTube, so I didn't know what the rest would sound like. I certainly didn't expect Jale's song "Lung" to be the best song of the entire CD. This song is an insanely catchy tune with solid vocals from Jennifer and excellent bass playing from Laura. The best part in my opinion is when the song starts to end with beautiful harmonizing from Jennifer as the song slowly fades out. 
Eric's Trip's first song "Blue Sky for Julie" is an acoustic banjo tune which I feel is incredibly weak. Often I skip to their second song "Smother" which is catchier mainly in the chorus. Idee du Nord song "Iodine Eyes" is more metal compared to the others, but it's still a catchy tune with great work on the guitar and piano.
This CD is definitely worth owning if you're into the Halifax bands. But again, I feel that Jale's song is the only one that really stands out.

GOLD LEATHER HEEL WITH DETAIL 1993
This was another pair of Jale songs that I got on vinyl. The first side "Stepping Out" is a little more acoustic compared to their previous songs, but it's still a good tune. One again we get excellent guitars and solid vocal work from Jennifer. The second song "River" is all done on an acoustic guitar and is sung by both Jennifer and Alyson.

CUT 1993
These songs I actually got from the Japanese release of So Wound. The first side contains one of my favorite songs "Promise" which is once again sung by Jennifer with a catchy tune and solid vocals. Laura Stein finally sings lead on the song "3 Days." It's not a great tune but still worth having.

DREAMCAKE 1994
This was Jale's first full length album. Part of the album was made with new versions of some of the singles. "Promise" has a cleaner guitar sound and has also replaced the word "fuck" with "mess." And instead of stopping, it instead slowly fades out into a strange instrumental version of the song. "3 Days also has cleaner guitars but to me, it sounds a little empty compared to the original. "Emma" has heaver guitars and added vocals which were all were great additions to the song. "River" has added electric guitars and has producer Brad Wood on drums while Alyson plays acoustic guitar.
The album stars with a new song "Not Happy" sung by Alyson and ended up being my favorite Jale song with excellent vocals and an insanely catchy riff. Eve sings "Nebulous" which a good track, but I mainly like the chorus than the verses. I find the alternate version on the From Greer to Eternity compilation a little bit better. "To Be Your Friend" is a simple tune sung by Jennifer. "Again" is good but I honestly feel it's a bit messy as the track seems to go in multiple directions. "I'm Sorry" is more acoustic much like river only picking up in the chorus. "Mend" is one of the weaker tracks as the tune isn't as impressive as the others. "Unseen Guest" is another great track and has more heavy rock much like "Emma". "Love Letter" is another catchy acoustic tune, especially in the chorus and the verses in the middle.
This was an excellent Album and the most popular with fans. All the songs (except maybe "Again") are well structured and have wonderful lyrics.

*EDIT*
PROMISE EP 1994

I didn't bother talking about this since I didn't have access to the CD at the time. Part of it is because of how rare it is.

The EP starts with the Dreamcake version of "Promise". The next track is a live session of "Brother." This version is slower and only has Alyson singing lead. For me, it's not as good as the album version. This EP is also where the alternate version of "Nebulous" originated from. The only real "new" track on here is "More or Less" sung by Jennifer. It's a nice slow tune with nice guitars (though one is distorted) and a nice sounding bass. The next track is a demo version of "Steppin' Out" which is sung by Alyson and Eve instead of Jennifer. The guitars also seem a bit cleaner compared to the final version. The last track is a live session of "Promise" which sounds almost the same as the Dreamcake version except Laura's voice is more noticeable and we get some "ba ba's" at the end.

CLOSED 1995
This was the last album with Alyson as she wasn't too happy with her role as a drummer (which I find silly since Jennifer can switch to drums). This album had some of the power pop sound that would eventually be on So Wound while retaining some of the rock from their previous songs.
The first two tracks "Nine Years Now" and "Wash My Hands are the acoustic songs on the EP. Both have great riffs, mainly "Wash My Hands" showing just how well Alyson's writing is. "Jesus Loves Me" and "Long Way Home" are the power-pop songs. "Jesus Loves Me" is a good tune with a catchy chorus. "Long Way Home" is the weaker track on the EP but still carries a pretty tune. The EP ends with "Double Edge" which is the only real rock song with a simple yet catchy riff and great vocals from Eve and Jennifer before they do their solos for each section.
After the EP, Alyson joined the Hardship post when their drummer Matt Clarke left. (Sebastian Lippa actually knows drums leaving Alyson to play bass.)

HEY HEY 1996
After Alyson left the band, the remaining three got Mike Belitsky. I wasn't too fond of this change because while they still had some good songs, they're much weaker compared to their previous material. This is when the band transitioned into a power pop sound.
The first track begins with the main song "Hey Hey", a catchy little jingle from Jennifer but still could be a little stronger as well as her next song "All Ready." The CD version added three more tracks: "Leave It Alone", "Coincidence", and "Bluestreak." "Coincidence" is sung by Eve but was actually written by Mike. I consider this to be the weakest track on the disc as it doesn't have much substance. Laura's two songs are much more rock compared to the rest. "Leave It Alone" is a nice tune with some nice harmonizing from Jennifer. The best track for me is "Bluestreak" as it recaptures the original sound with an insanely catchy heavy riff and distorted guitars, especially in the chorus with excellent vocals and harmonies.
This wasn't their best work and sadly didn't change with their last full length album.

SO WOUND 1996
This was their Last full album. Sadly, many of the songs are quite weak. One of the reasons I think this happened is because of the lack of Alyson as she helped write many of the songs mainly on Dreamcake.
"Ali" is a catchy tune and became the most popular track. "Hey Hey" and "All Ready" reappear without any changes. Most of Eve's songs are alright but only really pick up in the Chorus. "Tumble" has some nice vocals from Eve and Jennifer. "Storm" sounds more country and is only really catchy in the chorus with Eve and Jennifer singing "I'm not going out toniiiight!" "Back on Track" is one of Eve's weaker songs as it's a little bland. The last track "Superstar" is an alright end to the album as all three girls sing "Aaa-ha-aaah-ah-haaa I'm a superstar" in the chorus. After 15 seconds, the ghost track "Sorry sentimental" plays which is another bland tune. Jennifer's two other songs are "Over You" and "Despite." "Over You" is another bland track. "Despite" is a catchy duet with Jennifer and Mike (who sounds similar to Chris Murphy from Sloan in my opinion.) Laura's songs are the only ones that stand out for me as once again they're more rock than pop, and include catchier riffs. "Sign of Life" rambles a little like "3 Days" but has a catchier tune. "Blue" and "Mosquito" are faster paced and contain decent vocals. "Drag" is her only weak track as it's yet another bland song.
So Wound received a lot of praise, but for me it doesn't leave much of an impact compared to their previous albums.

SONGS FOR A RIVER 1996
Pet-Kout-Koy-Ek: Songs for a River was a benefit CD released to help save the Petitcodiac River. It contained 20 tracks each from a different artist. After listening to "Never Mind the Molluscs", I expected Jale's song to be the most impressive on the CD. While "Traditional" is a nice tune, it's still weak compared to their previous material. Eric's Trip and Idee du Nord return. Both bands make nice rock tunes on this disc. The Hardship Post appears as well and is probably their only song recorded with Alyson. "The Hole" is sung by Mike pick. Like "Traditional", it's good but not that impressive.

JALE 1997
This was Jale's last album as Eve Hartling became pregnant and left after recording the two songs.
"True What They Say" is sung by Laura and is her only acoustic track ever, but it's still has a catchy riff and great vocals. "From a Still" is sung by Mike. This shows how weak his writing is compared to the girls. While it still has decent vocals, the overall tune is kind of bland.

THE VEES 1997
This CD is incredibly rare and was actually hard to get. After Eve left the band, the remaining three members decided to continue on as The Vees. Unfortunately, they only made one EP. Once again, I think this is because of the missing members. It's saddening because they still made some very good songs.
Jennifer starts the EP with "Chicago Lights" which is a beautiful tune. "A" is another rock song from Laura and is my favorite track, especially with the excellent guitar solos. "Denied" is sung by Mike. Once again, it's a bland song but it does contain nice vocals from the ladies. Jenner's song "Seven Thirty" is more upbeat than "Chicago Lights". The EP ends with Laura's "Circumstance" which kind of rambles on but still contains a bit more substance than "Denied."

AFTERMATH
Aside from Jennifer, Laura, and Mike appearing of Joe Pernice's album Chappaquiddick Skyline in 2000, the members of Jale each went their separate ways. Mike Joined with the Sadies, Alyson formed a band with Sebastian called Speedo (who sadly didn't make any releases), Eve decided to paint, and Laura actually married Joe Pernice. As for Jennifer, one person on a message board said she was a teacher in Toronto. I honestly think they would have lasted longer if at least Alyson stayed. It's really sad to see a band with such potential disappear so quickly.