“We’re kind of a classically moronic band,” says Vincent Kircher, frontman for Milwaukee garage-pop project Jaill. “We always seem to tour the Northeast in the winter and the Southwest in the summer.”
But what the currently overheated Jaill lacks in tour planning skills, it more than makes up for in creativity and vigor. As Kircher’s long-running recording moniker, Jaill has seen numerous members come and go in more than a decade of existence, in one form or another. Yet each new record seems to propel the group forward into becoming a sturdier, more intentional, more mature unit.
There’s an intriguing dichotomy behind Jaill’s nature. First and foremost a garage-rock band, the grit and fuzz that typically coats such sounds is replaced by tight, clean, jangling pop. The attitude is there for sure, but so is the sincerity — two things you don’t see packaged together very often.
In the past year alone, the Sub Pop-signed act has put out the excellent LP Traps, played more than 100 shows, and lost two longtime members. Now backed by three new members, Kircher’s already working on another, even more involved album.
“In terms of touring, we didn’t really think we were making the next step,” says Kircher of the band’s previous incarnation. “I feel like maybe the morale was down a bit, and now the band has filled out with three amazing guys who were all singers in bands back in Milwaukee.”
Kircher says the new lineup’s experience with recording is steering the band toward a more diverse, “weirder” record, probably by the end of this year. But right now, touring is the first priority.
“With Traps, we took months and months to record it and weren’t playing any shows,” Kircher recalls. “You could really feel the drop-off of people just forgetting about you.”
This is the third time that Kircher and company have jangled their way through Spokane, and their third time at Mootsy’s. “The first time we played there, it was pretty dead,” he remembers, “but our second show there was good, so I’m hoping that this next time we come through, people remember us and head out for it.”
There’s no doubt that the fanbase Jaill has established in its two stops at the old yellow door will come around to see them again. The one thing we can’t promise is a break from the heat — July 8 looks like it’s going to be a hot one.
Jaill with Normal Babies and Cosmonauts • Mon, July 8, at 10 pm • Mootsy’s • 406 W. Sprague Ave. • $7 • 21+ • 838-1570
