Issue No. 2

Jennifer Gentle
The Khyber, March 23, 2005
Maxwell Fig

Whenever someone tells me they’re worried about leaving a job they hate, I tell them that work is inevitable; a disquieting thought. I won’t go into my day, but at 8:30pm I got my orders from Magnaphone to cover the Jennifer Gentle show at the Khyber. It was raining and Philadelphia was low on cabs as usual. When I arrived, there was some confusion at the door. The cover was ten dollars, and I wasn’t on the guest list. I was told the Khyber really needed the money, but so did I. To get in, I was going to have to pay ten bucks on the condition that I would get it back when the headlining band presented their guest list – if Magnaphone was on it. I picked a ten out of my wallet and threw it on the ground. It happened in a flash. We scuffled like beggars, scratching the cement floor for the little green bill. He bit my wrist. I pulled his jacket over his head and grabbed the money. I stood up on one leg, knocking the table and spilling some pistachios. We quickly composed ourselves and I was let into the bar.

A man named Lee de Forest invented the triode in 1907 - those neat looking orange glowing tubes inside finer guitar amplifiers - and a band called Dead Meadow was onstage making loud, warm sonic atmospheres with them. They’re a four man operation, but only two guitarists were playing when I peeked around the arched entrance to the stage. It’s always a good opportunity to be somewhere where equipment can be pushed to its limits without the police showing up. They weren’t just making noise, though. Their approach was focused. They stopped abruptly then shifted into a thick, loud wall of overdrive with faint melodies outlining a landscape of darkness.

The crowd was relaxed as the five young members of Jennifer Gentle sized up, set up, and had a chat with some admirers. They took to the stage and opened right into some of the most inventive and playful psychedelic rock I’ve heard in a while. Marco Fasolo’s voice reached a surprisingly fun helium-filled faux-British scream while the band rocked their well thought out tunes. After a few uplifting numbers, I found myself inside a long and relentless psychedelic instrumental. Nicola Crivellari was laying down some beautiful bass lines that gave shape to the piece. When it was over, I felt refreshed and ready for their last two songs – the first of which was a happy number called “Locoweed,” which in my opinion sounded much better in a stripped down live situation with considerably less reverb and more energy than the recording. Their set was relatively short but it was very sweet and very much worth the trip.

Love,
Maxwell Fig
Visit Jennifer Gentle at their website and then head over to Sub Pop to pick up their latest lost classic.
(Photos: Maxwell Fig )