New wave kinda arty power punk.

13 MP3 Songs
ROCK: 80's Rock, POP: New Wave



Details:
From Hanson.net, H-Notes fanzine
by: Allison Perry

Their name alone is enough to give you pause - The Jimmy Carter Experience? This five-piece rock band from Lexington, Kentucky, wears its quirkiness up-front and center. With a sound that blends pop and rock from the 80s and 90s (and an occasional hint of skas syncopated beat) with offbeat, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, the JCX often garners comparisons to contemporary acts like Violent Femmes and Weezer, as well as Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Talking Heads.

So really, whats with the name? An outspoken admiration for the 39th President of the United States? Not quite - the moniker is merely a reference to the time guitarist Ben Distler was left behind while his friend ran off to help Habitat for Humanity (an organization the former President is highly involved in) during Spring Break. The members of the band are quick to point out that they have nothing to do with the former Commander-in-Chief - its simply a name they found amusing, keeping in check with their overall zest and sense of humor. Although not everyone always gets the joke.

We do have a problem with people thinking were affiliated with, or know, the actual Jimmy Carter, says lead singer Jason Teegarden, with a laugh.

Oh, yeah, we do. I just got one the other day, agrees Distler, referring to some of the messages the band has received via their website. Someone posted something like, You were the worst president ever! Why are you hanging out with all these different foreign leaders? Please explain yourself! It gets a lot of attention but I dont know if its good attention.

Maybe so, but as the saying goes, theres no such thing as bad publicity, especially when youre looking to make a name for yourself. For roughly four years, Teegarden, Distler, and the other members of the JCX keyboardist Anna Gregory, bassist Mike Day, and drummer Matt Thompson have been playing together, writing their own songs, performing gigs in Lexington, and finally recording their first album this spring. Over the years, the groups sound has evolved from a side-project of bizarre, amusing sound clips and special effects into a true, full-fledged rock band. In fact, Distler even turned his house into a recording studio, using the leftover money from his college savings to purchase and set up recording equipment.

So they may have their own personal studio, but the band members havent quite quit their day jobs yet. However, theyre hoping that the upcoming album will generate some more buzz in the area. Despite not yet having a finished, final release out in the market, already the JCX has received attention from other parts of the country, mainly from stations that discovered their music via the internet or friends.

Weve actually been contacted by a lot of people says Distler. From Louisville, from Colorado, people from Seattle, who are like, Hey, can we play this song here? And apparently we were really big last summer on WKUs [Western Kentucky University] station some guy we knew from high school had taken it off our website, and given the CD to WKU and they started playing it there.

The interest from outsiders is good news for the band, who lament the fact that their offbeat sound wont get them played on any of Lexingtons cut-and-dried rock or country radio stations. Teegardens lyrics dont exactly fit into todays generic top-40 format, instead recalling the eccentricity and humor of contemporaries such as Beck or old-school Weezer. She made me a sweater/I didnt become a sweater/but rather she knitted for me/a sweater I could wear, he sings on the albums catchy lead-off track, She Made Me. He and Distler agree that they prefer this style of songwriting and try to keep the tone upbeat, rather than weighing the music down with politics or even romance.

Every once in awhile, therell be something where Ill write a song about a topic, says Teegarden, but I try not to do that, because I kind of like stream-of-consciousness a little more... I dont really write a poem or something and then say, Oh, Im gonna put that to music! It just it sounds too contrived to me, I think.

This dedication to keeping the music fun extends to the groups live act. At the shows, we tend to play pretty loud and heavy, continues Teegarden. Or at least I like to, because it keeps the energy up I like our sound much better live. Not that we sound bad recorded, but I think the energy level is just there when were live.

So with several years of shows and a new album under their collective belts, does the group harbor any hopes of hitting the jackpot and becoming a household name, much like Weezer did? Not quite, according to Distler.

Id love to do it full-time, you know, if anyone would come along with us, fan-wise, he says. I would like music to support me, but I wouldnt like I would want to be able to walk down the street.

Teegarden, currently a chef for a central Kentucky restaurant, merely smiles. Im too busy making food, he says slyly. So, you know, if we get too big, Im just gonna have to quit [the band].

Sense of humor intact, as always.

The Jimmy Carter Experiences as-yet-untitled album will be released soon, and will be available for purchase via the bands website, www.jimmycarterexperience.com. For now, you can download and listen to song previews on the official site or on their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/jimmycarterexperience.