Audio Jane is a new indie-rock quintet from Hartford, Connecticut. Their first EP, A Full Bird’s Wing, is set to be released later this month, and is expected to be followed by a full-length next year. Influenced by 90’s alternative, singer Sarah Pech’s intimate, breathy vocals call to mind Aimee Mann or Kim Deal, and the grungey guitars and fuzzy basslines are reminiscent of The Breeders as well. But Audio Jane is so much more than just a nostalgia act, and there is a vitality and energy to the band that is utterly contemporary.
The structures of songs like “White Lies” and “Baby I Know” are relatively simple, but the band’s focus is put more on a gradual swell of emotion, and attitude. Even Pech’s lyrics seem less important than the way she sings them and the specific feelings she transmits. The song “Radiohead,” for example, not only discloses one of Audio Jane’s key influences, but it also communicates that magical feeling of listening to one of your favorite bands and how it physically and mentally affects you. This EP is a fantastically cohesive and effective debut from a band with an identity already carved out in stone. A Full Bird’s Wing is out July 23rd.
