Jale- Rarities 1993-97

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of the Brooklyn band, Palomar, not only their new album, Sense & Antisense, but also their previous two records, Palomar III: the Revenge Of Palomar and the excellent, All Things, Forests. I love this band! I really enjoy their driving pop/rock sound and you know how much I like girl vocals, but they seem to sound somewhat familiar. I don't know if you remember the Canadian band, Jale who hailed more specifically from Halifax in the early to mid 90's. In the mid-90's, an explosion of great indie bands from the "Halifax scene" such as Sloan, Superfriendz, Thrush Hermit and Plumtree caught the attention of music fans not only in Canada, but in the U.S. as well. Jale became the second Canadian band (Eric's Trip, the first) to be signed to the American label, Sub Pop. At that time, Sub Pop was a big deal...a huge deal. Despite that, Jale only left us with 2 full length albums, an EP (Closed) and a handful of singles. The band broke up in 1996, only a few months after the release of their second album, So Wound after guitarist Eve Hartling announced she was pregnant and either left the band or was fired. The remaining members formed the Vees (I featured their lone EP a few years ago), but that fizzled quickly.

So, if you want to hear more of Jale, I'm posting some "rarities" from singles, promos and compilations that I received in a trade many years ago. The person I traded with put together this collection and gave it the title, Sleeping Off The Party. If you still can't enough of Jale, check out Palomar who I still think sounds a bit like Jale, but in fact they have expanded and improved (and updated) that sound for an equally satisfying listen.
Enjoy!

JALE
Sleeping Off The Party: Rarities
1993-97

1. Lung
2. Stepping Out
3. River
4. Brother (live)
5. Nebulous (alt. version)
6. More Or Less (demo)
7. Stepping Out (demo)
8. Promise (live)
9. Leave It Alone
10. Coincidence
11. Blue Streak
12. True What You Say
13. From A Still

#1 "Never Mind The Molluscs" (1993)
#2-3 "Gold Leather With Heel Detail 7" (93')
#4-8 "Promise" promo (94')
#9-11 "Hey Hey" single (96')
#12-13 "True What You Say" single (97')

JALE- Rarities 1993-97. rar

Jale- Closed EP

This is my very first blog entry written on my brand-new laptop I purchased yesterday. Having the portability and availability (instaed of having to share the desktop with my wife and daughter), I now have the freedom to post new entrys from anywhere and hopefully more often.

Two of my co-workers are presently on the East Coast on vacation (with a third following next week) and it got me thinking of the great Canadian bands that have come from out East, specifically Halifax. Sloan, Superfriendz, Thrush Hermit, Plumtree and Jale, but to name a few.

The late great Jale formed in 1993 and released two fine full-length CD's, a handful of 7"ers and an EP. Their EP, Closed was released between their first album, Dreamcake and their last, So Wound. It still featured their original lineup of Jennifer Pierce, Alyson MacLeod, Laura Stein and Eve Hartling, if you take the first letter of their first name, you have JALE. I never had the chance to see Jale live, but I almost did during their last tour when they were scheduled to play our town, but the tour was abruptly cancelled when guitarist Eve Hartling announced she was pregnant and unable to complete the tour, the band soon after disbanded in 1996. The other three members of the band reformed as the Vees, but more on them later.
Enjoy!

JALE
Closed (1995)
1. Nine Years Now
2. Wash My Hands
3. Jesus Loves Me
4. Long Way Home
5. Double Edge

Download: Jale-Closed EP. rar