~ The JeanMarie.com: Electronic Press Kit ~

Members

Jordan Davidson - Vocals, Guitar
Jason Haft - Drums
Richard Haig - Keyboards, Vocals
Curtis Nyström - Guitar
Jeffrey Schechinger - Bass, Vocals

Biography

The JeanMarie plays music for the masses. Hailing from Miami, a city whose whole appeal is wealth and exclusiveness, the band may seem like a crew of outsiders with their grassroots desire for nothing more than a good time. The group relishes in their role as a pillar of the Miami independent music scene, by doing the exact opposite of what is expected. They cemented their image of strangers in a strange place, literally and figuratively by adopting a polar bear as mascot. The polar bear does not belong in Miami and in many ways neither does the combination of sounds that come from Jordan Davidson, Jason Haft, Curtis Nyström, Jeffrey Schechinger and Richard Haig.

The JeanMarie's music is the sound of multi-tasking. Drawing on influences ranging from Steve Reich to Prince, they create an un-categorizeable resonance that can only be referred to as "grungy guitar, squiggle synth, simmering cymbal-and-bass drum boogie music."

The JeanMarie released their first E.P., What's a Revolution Without Backup Dancers?, to critical acclaim in 2006. The follow up E.P., 2007's Self-Titled, featured the band in its current configuration with all members helping to write, record, edit, and produce the album in a squalid corner of Miami's Little Haiti district. The JeanMarie are currently in the studio finishing the as-of-yet unnamed masterpiece that will act as their full length debut. The band's live show mixes all of the elements of their recorded music but with more style, leg kicks, and drums.

Unpretentious rock has never sounded so good. Join the movement against the obvious, boring and fake but make sure you wear comfortable shoes: at The JeanMarie's party, you'll be shaking it all night.

Broward New Times
Just An Awesome Fucking Band
Are The Jean Marie the best thing to happen to post-punk since punk?
By Brandon K. Thorp
Published: August 23, 2007

What do you get when you grab the Au Pairs, Â´80s-era King Crimson, Mungo Jerry, and the guy who mixes the harmonies for The Scissor Sisters, stick them in a blender, and hit "frappe"?

Goo. You get goo. It's disgusting. Never try it.

But! If you take those same ingredients, add an ear for weird hooks that sound obvious after one listen, and stick the resulting combo onstage well, then you get something like Miami's jangliest, danciest, post-punkiest pop band, The Jean Marie. Their debut EP What's A Revolution Without Backup Dancers? showcases a group smart enough to nod to Emma Goldman and hungry enough to need you to notice. The follow-up is just as smart and voracious, but more assured. It's full of jokes that aren't quite jokes and moments of passion that can't stop winking, all surrounded by lovely guitar noise that recalls "Marquee Moon" and whoever your favorite stunt noodler might be. The live versions of these songs are like the pimped rides of their recorded cousins, maintaining their dancy, jangly cool but injecting more rock than the records hint at. Experience this firsthand tonight at 8, at City Limits (19 NE 3rd Ave., Delray Beach, 561-279-8222). Tickets are a steal at $5. For a preview, swing by www.myspace.com/thejeanmarie.

Broward New Times
The JeanMarie
What's a Revolution Without Backup Dancers? (Self-released)
By Jonathan Zwickel
Article Published May 4, 2006

It's an amazing feat when a mere four songs contain as many ideas and as much fun as the JeanMarie's debut EP. The title alone What's a Revolution Without Backup Dancers? hints at the highbrow pop playfulness of this Miami quintet. And right from the kickstart opening of "Late Last Night" grungy guitar, squiggly synth, simmering cymbal-and-bass-drum boogie it's clear that these guys are serious about their good times. Bouncy but hardly light, dignified with a Brit-like swagger but truly, effortlessly soulful, the JeanMarie makes funk-fueled dance rock that's both passionate and unabashedly silly. No surprise that the band is composed of UM grads and that Revolution was made with the help of close friends MJ and B-Rob from Awesome New Republic. Both bands share a way of winking with a straight face, of letting go while tightening up, that's pretty accomplished for such young acts. With "Late Last Night" and its follow-up, "Delancey Street," two songs flaunting all the studio depth, hook-heavy songwriting, and general greatness of a major-label production, you've got the best one-two combo of the local year so far. "Delancey" is especially accomplished, a multilayered, midtempo epic of growing up in the big city. Singer Jason Scott, singing "Got a flask in my pocket but it is leaking/You can tear off all my clothes and try to suck it out," reveals a uniquely timbred voice that's half Tweedy-esque yearning and half Strummerish boast. While not as immediate or concise, the second half of the EP comes awfully close to measuring up to the first; ambitious album closer "Madame St. Clair" gets swept up into a warm, fuzak meditation before pogoing into a goony, upbeat coda. For all you fans of multitasking: This is music that manages to be many things simultaneously, and all of them are good.

Advance Correspondence