The Evangenitals

If you read this blog with any kind of regularity you will know that I am a big fan of California based band The Evangenitals.
I first came across them one late night in Los Angeles in The Knitting Factory, I was waiting for a Tenacious D side project and they were the support. They blew me away then and continue to do so regularly.
2 full albums under their belts, and a third album just released, it seems that they are here to stay.

This EP, is a snapshot of a band at a time, next week it may be a different band as The Evangenitals revolve around a core of Lisa Dee and Juli Crockett and an ever rotating line up. Rotating almost in a jug band at a bar way, not in a Guns n Roses way. Lisa and Juli surround themselves with the best musicians they can find, unfortunately sometimes those musicians are busy. They may well have settled on this line up, it is a line up that does excite.

This release though, where are the band now? On the back of a hayride on the trail back to their little house on the prairie if “Home” is anything to indicate. It puts you right up there with them. Like an alt country Merry Pranksters, all living in the same house ala The Monkees. They appear to be that tight as a band on Home that you would think that this band had been in this incarnation for as long as The Rolling Stones. Maybe that’s the relationship between Dee and Crockett, long term friends and outside of The Evangenitals, sole members of Evangina.
Evangina was the original home of “Home”, its back bone was the same but it is an altogether different beast when put through the full Evangenitals sound, bigger, badder, ballsier and beautiful.
Taking of beauty, “I’m Sad”, you find it hard to believe that Ms Crockett could ever be sad, a ridiculously enthusiastic woman that scares optimism with her ever pervading feeling of “hell yeah”! So I’m Sad as a song is notable for its tone, sure The Evangenitals have put out the sadness before, dressed it up in black clothes but delivered it with a wink. On “I’m Sad” though, no wink, well not at the start at the least, but you know, you can’t keep a good girl down, and you know, when she reels off that that she’s sad in different languages, you think Juli, sad? really?
Many things mean something to Julie Crockett and it seems her idea of love, love, being a vegan and being a good human being are pretty much up there with walking and talking. “So Sweet” gives us the low down on an un-named lover, but not at the expense of bees “I don’t want no honey baby cos they stole it from the bees” and animals “I don’t sexy leather, cos I got some skin of my own”. She doesn’t preach, and that wink is evident again on this track.
The Evangenitals produce the goods more on this release than on any other, if you like them, and I like them, it tops We Are The Evangenitals and Everlovin. It’s a band finding their place, it’s a songwriter growing and improving and threatening the world that maybe you could really like this band. You could really really like this band.
They make you feel special, and at times special, they wrap you up in warm and fuzzy and make you smile, they do that with a tickle and not a joke and don’t take them too seriously although they really are to be took seriously.



Home by The Evangenitals

All the info on the band and their music can be found at http://www.evangenitals.com/