The Jazz June

The Jazz June are a four-piece emo/indie band from Kutztown, Pennsyvlania that formed in 1996. They went on an unofficial hiatus in 2003, played a one-off benefit reunion shows in 2007, and reformed again in 2013 for a new LP and tour. Despite not getting much attention during their initial run, they are now regarded as an emo classic, particularly with regards to their seminal full-length The Medicine. The Jazz June managed to themselves apart from the typical sounds of midwest emo and the emerging poppier "mall emo" sound that had begun to rise in popularlity near the end of their first tenure. They directly cite bands such as Cap'n Jazz, Christie Front Drive, Braid, Hoover and Kerosene 454 as influences, alongside jazz greats including Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Miles Davis, so the name isn't just a creative alliteration. This made for a truly unique approach to genre, integrating jazz and scales into their lead tinkering into their driving, melodic and melancholic sound. Their early material is much more rooted in the aforementioned band's influence, while they took a bit of an experimenal departure on Better Off Without Air. Post-reunion marked a strong return to form with After The Earthquake (released by Topshelf Records). Everything this band was great in its own way, but the essential listening here is undoubtedly The Medicine, and I'm also pretty partial to They Love Those Who Make The Music. It's incredible that this blog has been running for over 10 years with classics like these absent, so here they finally are. If you want a fantastic, detailed history on the band, check out this interview here. Enjoy.

The Necessary Conditions Of Currents And Signal (1996)

1. Antiquated

2. Nothing

3. Signal

Flowers Make Everything Better (1997)

1. Mid Carson July - Lilac Morning

2. The Jazz June - Bleach In Your Eyes

They Love Those Who Make The Music (1997)

1. Low End Automatic

2. Red Light District

3. When in Rome

4. Rich Kid Shakedown

5. Transinstrumentalism

6. La Villanella (Russians, Pt. I)

7. The Oncoming 2600

8. The Possibilities Are Endless

9. Day 7

10. Falling Asleep On Lincoln Drive

The Emo Diaries - Chapter 2: A Million Miles Away (1998)

7. S.E.G.

The Room, The Motion And The Music (1998)

1. When The Drums Kick In

2. Burn In Hell

3. Bullets In The Back Pocket

4. Drop The Bomb

5. His Statue Falls

Breakdance Suburbia (1999)

1. Burned Out Bright

2. Silver Dollar

3. The Teenage Fight Song

4. Russians, Pt. 2

5. Antiquated

6. Nothing

7. Signal

8. Bleach In Your Eyes

9. At The Artist's Leisure

10. D3PO

The Medicine (2000)

1. Viva La Speed Metal

2. The Scars To Prove It

3. Excerpt

4. The Phone Works Both Ways

5. The Medicine

6. At The Artist's Leisure Part 2

7. Motorhead's Roadie

8. Death From Above

9. Fight Like Sinatra

10. Get On The Bus

11. Balance

Better Off Without Air (2002)

1. Drugs And Models

2. Hate & Bass

3. We've Got Your Situation

4. Shots Fired

5. Uptown Explosion

6. Better Off Without Air

7. Dual Symmetry

8. These Pills Won't Calm Your Nerves

9. Stings A Bitch

10. Benny Clarks Can

11. Red Bank Blues

12. Over & Over

13 .The Submarine Song

The Scars To Prove It (2007)

1. Gettin' High In The Ghetto

2. Lower East Side

3. Nicaragua

4. Treading Water

5. Sputnik 1957

6. The Elliptical Path (Live)

7. The Low End Automatic (Live)

8. Viva La Speed Metal (Live)

9. Better Off Without Air (Live)

10. The Possibilities Are Endless (Live)

11. The Medicine (Live)

12. When The Drums Kick In (Live)

13. When In Rome (Live)

14. Rich Kid Shake Down (Live Radio)

15. We've Got Your Situation (Live Radio)

16. At The Artist Leisure Part II (Live)

17. The Scars To Prove It (Acoustic)

18. Antiquated (Acoustic)

Note: Live & unreleased tracks

Dikembe/The Jazz June (2014)

1. Dikembe - Healer Of The Pride

2. The Jazz June - Over Underground

After The Earthquake (2014)

1. Over Underground

2. After The Earthquake

3. With Honors (Honours)

4. It Came Back

5. Edge Of Space

6. Stuck On Repeat

7. Ain't It Strange

8. Nothing To See Here

9. Short Changed

10. Two Floors Down

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