The Evangenitals

I have mentioned The Evangenitals in passing a number of times and feel it is time to give them a post of their own. Maybe highlight a few songs that you need to hear.



As mentioned I saw The Evangenitals a couple of years ago at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles, the very first thing that struck me prior to them playing a not was the size of the kick drum, man it was huge. The drum kit itself looked like an oversized novelty kit that you might see a miniature monkey playing or sat on top of a novelty alarm clock.

The band themselves were the antithesis of the other two bands on the bill, Von Stone and Trainwreck, but by the same token Evangenitals were as “Californian” as the other two, but very much a different place.

The set was pretty breathtaking from what I recall, they were tight, melodic, welcoming and performed like seasoned professionals and it was a formality that I would buy the album and so off to the merch stand I walked and bought their debut We are The Evangenitals.

Now you know as debuts go its disjointed, it doesn’t sound like a single album, it sounds more like a compilation, a mix CD of some of their songs, that’s not to say it isn’t good, it is VERY good, its an excellent CD that you should get now from CD Baby, my point it that it is a pretty diverse album, the juxtaposition between something forlorn and unrelenting like Beautiful Boy and something dirty, nasty and hillbilly like Gasoline on the one hand makes the album so great but on the other doesn’t give you a complete sense of the band.



Beautiful Boy - The Evangenitals



Gasoline - The Evangenitals

The thread that does hold them altogether are the voices of Lisa Dee and Juli Crockett, Crockett being a former boxer that could quite literally kick your ass. So even if you don’t get the musical differences, in effect alt-country, you get the glue the voices create. Oddly the worst song on this album is not one of theirs and when I say worst, it’s a fault picking worst.



Hey Yah - The Evangenitals

Shortly after I bought this album they released Everlovin’ the follow up and a beautiful follow at that, still sticking with the roots that they had started to sprout on the debut but more accomplished, more realistic and just better.



Sun is Shining - The Evangenitals

Better than its predecessor and better than anything else for my money than anything that turned up in 2007. Plaintive is a way of describing the songs, you wonder what the stories are behind each lyric, be it Mahi Mahi or Fuck em all. The clues are probably there in the lyrics, who knows?



Fuck em all - The Evangenitals

So as The Evangenitals head into the future the past two years has seen the band line up change, Evangina, the Lisa and Juli side project put some more material out, go on a one second film tour that saw them try and get on Oprah under the name The Love Punks, Juli take up the role of June Carter Cash in a Johnny Cash tribute band called Cash’d out and hopefully, and this is the more important element, work on the third album. Time will tell on that last one.



Tall Lover Man - Juli Crockett


www.evangenitals.com
www.myspace.com/evangenitals
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5456766961
www.cashdout.com

Wednesday Top 5

Its a momentous day today, a day that perhaps will never be forgotten, perhaps even never forgotten by our children. Today marks the changing point for a lot of people.

Yes its the second Wednesday top 5!

I have spent most of my commute thinking what will I plunder Youtube for? Obama related? Maybe something else? Its difficult not to post a change is gonna come, its an easy choice.

But no, todays top 5 is...

Top 5 Hip Hop songs covered by non Hip Hop artists.

To kick things off is a rather splendid version of NWA's Straight Outta Compton, its fair to say that all of the songs pretty much aren't safe for work.
But anyway, this version is a rather beautiful version by Nina Gordon, formerly of Veruca Salt. She did a fair few covers, notably One More Night, 18 and Life etc, but this is the best by a fair chalk.

Straight Outta Compton by Nina Gordon



Nina Gordon

Second best Hip Hop cover I ever heard is covered by future Top 5 artist, it is Bitches Ain't Shit, a Dr Dre tune that is perhaps lost in transalation when it gets into the hands of Ben Folds. But it really does take on a life of its own and I challenge anyone who has heard the original not to listen to this and not think of this whenever they hear the Dr Dre original.

Bitches Ain't Shit by Ben Folds



Ben Folds

Following that is Jonathan Coulton, I know nothing about this man but he loves "open source" music and gives a lot of his music away for free, embarrassingly I only have his gorgeous version of Sir Mixalots, Baby Got Back. Maybe I need to get a lot more.

Baby Got Back by Jonathan Coulton



Jonathan Coulton

How to follow that, well, a few years ago I went to see the side project of the non Jack Black half of Tenacious D, Kyle Gas's band Trainwreck. I saw them in Los Angeles and they were OK, I guess, however the support band, The Evangenitals became very quickly one of my favourite bands, they are better than any cover, but this beautiful plaintive version of Outkasts Hey Ya really shows off their sound, the video is not much to look at but the sound is worth it.

Hey Ya by The Evangenitals



The Evangenitals

Finally Blackeyed Peas' My Humps, as covered by Alanis Morrissette, hmm, its an odd one and unsure if it really is out and out Hip Hop, that said I like the juxtaposition.

My Humps by Alanis Morrissette



Alanis Morrissette