[mp3] Things will happen just the same

The Jen Spingla Band - "Smaller"

I heard of Jen Spingla through a friend of mine (who I think was dating her, even), which led to my seeing her band play in a ski lodge one night. As rock venues of my experience go, ski lodges rank well below basements (Mirah, The Blow), a train station (Flin Flon, True Love Always, Aden), a college gymnasium foyer (The Need), a bowling alley (too many to list) and probably several other things I'm forgetting. Even so, I enjoyed the concert. Finding this CD in a clearance bin years later still felt weird, though, like I hadn't sufficiently thought of the band as actually existing until then.

I now wish I'd heard it while I was still in touch with our mutual friend, because some of the music is excellent. I can't put my finger on why-- interesting vocal rhythms, maybe?-- but it's rare that a straightforward rock singer/songwriter album (the kind of thing that I can never understand why people refer to as 'folk', but they do) has seemed so distinctive after only one listen. Reminds me of Sarah Harmer's old band, Weeping Tile.