Jalopy Records Shares “Enter the Fish Man” Today, First Single from Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band’s Move That Thing, Out July 19
Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band answers the question what would a one-gallon jug bass sound like in ‘50s rock-n-roll, psychedelic, garage, jazz, and wall-of-sound songs on its forthcoming album ‘Move That Thing,’ out July 19 via Jalopy Records. Today, Jalopy shared the first single “Enter The Fish Man.” Music video/single (OK to share).
Everything on the album was written, arranged, played, sung, recorded, and produced by just the two members of the Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band, a duo made up of Minnie Heart and Bill Howard. In addition to a jug on every track, sounds include baritone sax, heavy percussion, drum sets, soaring string sections, tape delay, wild textures, sonic vistas, and backwards effects. All but two of the songs feature dual lead vocals, where both Howard and Heart sing in unison, to create a double-tracked vocal effect, combining their voices into one, on top of loads of backup vocals, giving it a warm, thick sound. In addition to their own recordings made via vintage tape machines, band member Howard has engineered recording for Mashed Potato Records (including Esther Rose and Jackson & The Janks) while Heart designed the record jackets, logos, and posters.
The album was all recorded to tape on a TASCAM MS-16 and M520 mixing console, using a variety of vintage microphones and outboard gear. They mixed the album live in real-time through the mixing board rather than on a computer, so each mix is a performance in itself. Their Ampex 351 is not only the next machine off the line from the one they used for Mashed Potato Records, but the previous owner of those two machines used them in sound experiments to help develop the THX cinema sound system for Lucasfilms’ Return of the Jedi. While the record sounds far out, most of the songs are still acoustic with only a few electric guitars peppered throughout.
On “Enter The Fish Man,” the left and right channels each hold 3 violins, a cello, an acoustic guitar, four or five vocals, and two jugs; two drum sets and percussion are up the middle, and all the vocal samples and tape effects wash back and forth to hold it all together. Of the single, the band says, “Enter The Fish Man (the song) started out as a weird made-up-on-the-spot song on one of Bill’s one-sided phone call cassettes, which were kind of like Agent Cooper’s ‘Diane’ tapes, where he’d talk about day-to-day events, make up songs and other nonsense.”
Having completed ‘Move That Thing’ now they are hard at work making a visual presentation of the entire record, working on twelve music videos, one for every song from the album, inspired by the sci-fi, film noir, b-films, kung-fu, boring documentaries, outsider/art films, ’70s schlock, crappy vintage TV shows, old music videos, etc., they had spent endless hours watching and studying while stuck at home during the cold pandemic winters.
Move That Thing Track List:
Side A
1: Cabbage White
2: Little Rubber Boots
3. Enter The Fish Man
4. The Sit Around
5. Five Pin
6. I Got Bit
Side B
7. What’s That Wow?!
8. In Love With You
9. What Kind Of Ball Is That!?
10. Boom Box Rag
11. Pussycat Man
12. Dreamland
About Jalopy Records
“Tradition & Creation”
• New and Archival
• Studio and field recordings
Jalopy Records is the record label of the Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, located in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NY.
Ancient tradition fosters artistic creation: Folk music is simultaneously historic, timeless, and modern – evolving and responding to the changing world. Jalopy Records is an outlet for the best contemporary artists in the fields of folk, traditional and vernacular music to record, reinterpret and advance their music. We also offer high quality reissue recordings; historic, archival treasures, deep cuts, and more.
Jalopy Records is a part of the non-profit Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, which holds as its central mission to support artists and educate the public by preserving, promoting and perpetuating diverse musical traditions.
