JUBILEE'S FIRST LOS ANGELES SHOW

Sorry, no pictures or video this time...

Saturday I caught Jubilee's second American show, which was also their first Los Angeles performance. The crowd was much larger than the Chino show and, in a very obvious statement, the sound was 100 times better. The band played nearly an identical set, which was fine because I didn't have any complaints about the first time I saw them.

Jubilee's strength lies in its ability to shy away from repetition. They play fast songs, slow songs, heavy songs, mellow songs and songs that have a bit of everything. Right when I think they are the best power-pop band in the land, they break into a feedback-laden jam that rocks.

Usually, bands have more than one lead singer because one guy just won't shut up about how he HAS to sing his songs. Well, Jubilee isn't like that. The combination of singer/guitarist Aaron North and singer/bassist Michael Shuman gives the quartet options that don't leave audiences waiting for the other guy to reclaim the mic.

Mid-set, North told the crowd that they didn't like playing LA because Angelenos suck at behaving properly. I couldn't agree more, but in this case, I had to give the shoegazers and arms-crossed crowd some slack because it ain't easy spending an hour of your time listening to a band you've never heard before. Hell, I can't do it. There was an apparent contingency of those who came out to see not necessarily the band, but the band members and that's fine too. I think that's called having fans, but judging by the lack of comments I get on this page, I have no idea what that concept means. By the time they were finished, Jubilee got the naysayers and the too-cool-for-school crowd on their side. At least I think so. Who the hell knows with those LA types?

I've decided Jubilee should sign to Sub Pop because they really are the culmination of what that label produced (and maybe still does, I don't know). But my guess is they'll stick to releasing their own stuff, which I can't argue with either. Sometimes it's nice to be the boss.