artist: Jayne Wriggle
title: Whatever happened to baby jayne?
Format:mp3 and 7" vinyl
Label: self released
Track Listing:1. oil and water
2. like nothing i ever had
3. Ska-bola outbreak!
4. dream a little dream of me
reviewjayne who? wriggle (yes,that is her real surname!) most dont know her by her own accord. in recent years, her father has become very well known and worshiped in pretentious movie snob circles. randy wriggle is the creative vision behind such infamous films as : "faster piggy,faster! kill! kill!" and "what the mortician saw". this makes her an extension of one of music's dynasties...not an exactly imposing dynasty,but a dynasty all the same. decades ago one mr randy wriggle adopted one erich hess,and thus history was born. so how does the hess clan's newest and shiniest member hold up? well.....surprisingly well it appears.
waaaay back in the 90's nearly anything could become a mainstream hit. punk rock? sure. big band and swing? that was cool too. house music? bring it on. one the genres that just screams 90's is ska. third wave ska,in particular. it was the bastard child of desmond dekker and operation ivy. it was a wonderful time of catchy melodies and sing along choruses...oh,and more checker board patterns than you could shake a stick at. this is what jayne wriggle seems to be steeped in. though for purists,her art does seem to suffer from a distinct lack of checkerboard.. lets take a look at the songs on this ep.
oil and waterthe release kicks off with "oil and water". a song about a relationship that was just wrong from the start. all the pair do is fuss and fight.the lyrics detail the final battle of the couple.things start off small with general insults and finally work their way up to the destruction of the apartment....and the neighboring one too. the way it is written leads on to believe this is a true story. if it is is true,jayne came out on top since her name wasnt on the lease. soundwise,this song skitters all over the place.the horn section almost fights the guitar for room at the forefront. jayne's vocals occasionally beat the cacophony back and she comes out on top. remember the old cartoons where characters would fight and it would just be a huge dustball with fists flying out occasionally? that is pretty much this song in a nut shell.
like nothing i ever hada departure from the previous song. this one is a slow groove where jayne really lays on the sexy vocals over a slow reggae beat.jayne claims the song is about a short but very intense fling. " this person showed me things that i never really experienced before. physically,mentally...it was just a real eye opener. then....we just kinda went our own ways,and never really spoke about why it wasnt continuing. they are sweet,and sweet people can do this without seeming assholish." she explained when asked. she states she will never say who the song is about. jayne isnt really famous enough for anyone to really care,yet. in coming years this could be a great puzzle. for the time being,though? it is just a solid song with an infectious beat.
Ska-bola outbreak!ah,the time honored tradition of making words up with "ska" in them. just when you thought, "hmm. she doesnt seem like her father and brother at all." this song starts playing. here,the beat literally is infectious. the song tells the story of a little girl who bought a used tape deck at a thrift shop. little did she know the sticker encrusted entertainer of yesteryear was infested by the ska bola virus. tiny,checkerboard pattern mites burst out and before she knows it? her father is a rude boy. this pattern repeats itself a few zillion times,and the planet turns ska. finally,the specials can have a real skinhead moonstomp.. the song returns to the breakneck pace of the ep's opener. filler,but fun enough to not skip over.
dream a little dream of me this classic gets a vintage ska treatment. its slow and very thin sounding, almost tinny.who knows,maybe jayne traveled to 1960's Jamaica and recorded this? (we hear tell she is a huge dr who fan.) it works very well for this conversion,jayne's vocals really shine here. "classic" is a good way to describe her vocals. one gets the impression she will never perform a vocal run,but uses what voice she has beautifully.
overall,this is a fun and easy to get into release. jayne may be on to something with this retro sound,there is nothing else out there quite like it. that isnt to say it doesnt have it's flaws. it is poorly recorded and sounds more than a little muddled at times. but jayne seems to realize this and only charges 5 bucks for the vinyl copy. that is including shipping. the digital version is one dollar for the lot. the vinyl could be worth buying,as it does come with stickers and seems to be pressed in randomly colored vinyl. if she keeps this up,we should be seeing a lot more of jayne in the future.
overall,sounds like:
i still feel uncreative using no doubt for this,but face it....you think gwen stefani each time you see jayne.