Putting odes
in episodes

>>Brooklyn’s Jealous Girlfriends
rule the small screen

COVETOUS COVEN: Jealous Girlfriends

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“We’re really glad that the people who know that first record also like this one,” says Jealous Girlfriends drummer Mike Fadem. “It’s always good to know you’re not alienating fans.”

It’s been four long years since their debut album, Uncomfortably Comfortable, and the Jealous Girlfriends are still a band in transition. Their self-titled sophomore album is out on April 15 through Montreal-based labels Good Fences and Last Gang. It’s an alluring unison of elegant melancholy, raucous energy and pop euphoria, with his ’n’ hers vocals and gauzy guitars reminiscent of the better alternative/indie music of the last 15 years. To the growing pile of comparisons (Mazzy Star, Blur, the New Pornographers, etc.), I’ll add Sebadoh, Throwing Muses and their local labelmate Jade McNelis.

But in the beginning, there was only singer-songwriter Holly Miranda and keyboardist/bassist Alex Lipsen, who produced the duo’s self-released LP. Josh Abbott joined in on drums, then switched to guitar as he began to write and sing as well. After Fadem entered the picture in early 2006, the quartet recorded new material, started touring and saw their cult status grow as their songs, both old and yet-to-be-released, were featured on four TV shows, and subsequently disseminated online.

And already, the Jealous Girlfriends are playing new material live, the result of their latest evolutionary leap: four-way songwriting. One such song is “Wolf Band.”

Mike Fadem: It’s not making fun of the music. One of my favourite bands in the world is Wolf Parade. But these waves of similar band names are just funny. Right now, there seems to be a bear movement on.

Mirror: I’m curious about your videos. There are a couple online, by friends of the band, one of which won an award. It seems like the line between fan art and official videos is blurred.

MF: If people wanna do that stuff, that’s great, it’s just more of us out there. Big budget videos are pretty much non-existent, unless you’re a huge pop star. But we’re talking about making a video for “Roboxulla,” bringing in our own idea. We all grew up in the ’90s, being video freaks, so we’re excited to do that for ourselves.

M: Did you guys actively pursue getting your songs on TV shows?

MF: No, not really. Our record just landed in the right laps through friends giving it out. We were called the week before, “Hey, you know, your song is going to be on next week’s Grey’s Anatomy.”

M: How was the music used?

MF: On Grey’s Anatomy, “Something in the Water” was in an action scene—the guys were fighting in the water.

M: That’s pretty literal.

MF: Yeah. And then on The L Word, it was a sex scene. The song was “Lay Around,” and there were women laying around. But on CSI: Miami, “Carry Me” was at the end of the show in this super melodramatic sequence where people were actually mouthing some of the words.

M: Like Magnolia.

MF: Yeah, it was very much like that. There was also this show called Shark that had a scene in a recording studio with a producer in the control room and a band playing “Something in the Water.”

M: Weird. Did they look anything like you guys, or were they, like, Creed?

MF: No, no. They were hip indie rock Brooklyn kids.

With Nada Surf at Club Soda on
Tuesday, April 8, 8 p.m., $20, all ages