LABEL: Drive-Thru Records
RELEASE DATE: 2004
One day in February 2004, Drive-Thru Records posted two EPs for free download. One was a self-titled EP by a band named hellogoodbye. The other was Jenoah and their five-song morning is when jenoah wakes up... release. One of those bands eventually broke up. The other got unfathomably popular. Guess which one is featured here?
If you're my age (23), maybe a little bit older, Drive-Thru may have provided the pop-punk soundtrack to your late teens, but either way, it's probably not a sound we find ourselves revisiting terribly often. No matter; Jenoah didn't remotely fit that description.
morning is when jenoah wakes up..., in a move rather uncharacteristic of their label, bustled with a huge Braid influence, only more melodic, slightly more chaotic and a bit more jangly. Their singer was more of a lower-register guy, complemented by his guitarist's tasteful, gritty backup shouts that created a mildly spazzy sound with seriously superb and dynamic songwriting.
The EP was physically released later that year in a digipak format, with five photocards (one for each song's lyrics) bearing 1960s cultural signifiers, and two bonus tracks (demos of the first two songs). The only thing that bothered me about it was the fact that Drive-Thru didn't make them with a sleeve to put the actual photocards in, meaning they were pretty easy to lose loosely nestled between the cover flap and the glued plastic tray. I somehow still have all of them.
Some time after this EP came out, their guitarist, Lucky, who was apparently the main songwriter, left the band. It was a pretty debilitating move, as they played few shows over the next few years and only managed to write and record a few (somewhat direction-less and meandering) demos, none of which seemed to really impress either their fanbase or label, I guess. In November 2006, they called it quits for good and morning ended up their only official release. But it was a damn good one.
I believe the physical copies have since gone out of print, since they're not on Interpunk or in Drive-Thru's online store. It's probably not hard to find its digital counterpart, though.
Definitely in my top 10-15 favorite EPs, and easily one of the 5-10 best things Drive-Thru have put their name on.
STREAM (MySpace fan page)
Wish for Alliance
Ex Suits
Coughing Up Blood
Jamie
"Openly" randomly popped into my head and since I'm at work, I looked to see if there was anywhere I could stream it and I found your blog. I'm glad I'm not the only one that remembers this band. They were really great live. I saw them probably 4 or 5 times, including their last performance as a 4 piece. That was a fun time. The next day they were supposed to leave on tour but they decided to kick Lucky out instead. I kept in touch with him for awhile after that. He's not in music anymore. Anyway, I see that you haven't updated in awhile... maybe you should! :) Thanks for conjuring up some memories!
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