Jersey headline the latest Thursday night at Schokoladen at M:Soundtrack presents. Featuring members of The Notwist they might not be top of your list of Berlin bands but they may very well soon be creeping their up your Top 10 Berlin Bands of 2011. Well, I suppose just because I keep lists doesn’t mean everyone else does so too. Ahem…nerd alert.
Melissa Perales knows how to pick and Thursdays at Schokoladen continue to be quality affairs despite the recent changes in the live schedule there which now means shows start at 8pm and must finish by 10pm.
Here’s some background on the band, happily gleaned from their very cute website:
How do you call music that switches effortlessly between Manchester guitar sound and smooth club tracks without losing its flow for one second? Which takes its time and yet is absolutely present at any moment?
At times, this music reminds one of that straight and unpretentious guitar music from the nineties, which answered indie rock opulence with strictness and sparseness. But moments like that do not last long – Jersey are not in favour of hypnotic loops trailing of into infinity. Their music rather proves that the band has a certain talent for songwriting – but without ever being fenced in by traditional, „classic“ forms.
to characterize the sound of the five piece from Berlin as demanding or daring would totally miss the point. Rather, the music of Jersey sounds warm, calm and at times has traces of melancholia.
