FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@ STAR-BULLETIN.COM
Local rock band littlejeans consists of, clockwise from top left, Jeff Long, Jon Wood, Chris Claxton and Tommy Yasuhara.
Don't judge littlejeans by its new CD. Granted, it's on the national independent Asian Man Records label, run by ex-Skankin' Pickle Mike Park, but what you hear is the original demo the local band sent Park hoping to pique his interest, THEN follow it up with what would be a relatively polished studio recording. littlejeans
By Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comNuh-uh -- Park would have none of that. Opting for that relatively raw, lo-fi sound recorded in Jon Wood's apartment bedroom over a two-month period, he conveniently tagged littlejeans with a flattering "The Velvet Underground meets Pavement" description that, to be honest, is OK with the band. (Band member Jeff Long also namechecked The Beatles -- his favorite -- Big Star and Guided By Voices as other influences, plus, believe it or not, power ballads from such 1980s metal hair bands as Poison and Warrant.)
The label also took the liberty of rearranging the song sequence printed in the CD booklet. Such are the minor trials of this relatively new band that also includes Chris Claxton and Tommy Yasuhara.
Long and Claxton met in screenwriting classes at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and their mutual love of film led to the band's moniker, taken from the name of the groundskeeper in "Rushmore." But before littlejeans came Karate Champ, with Yasuhara holding down the keyboard duties while the other three rotated from guitar to bass to drums. (Yasuhara moonlights with some ex-Kite Festival guys in The Haunted Pines -- who, by the way, will be opening for Jimmy Eat World next month.)
While they may be playing only the "finest" cheap Japanese knockoffs, you can't accuse the guys' songs of being filled with cheap sentiments. Wood's "(music is the way to a) girl's heart" and Yasuhara's "eskimo kiss" and "oh angel" are sweet-and-sour, heart-on-sleeve tunes. "I wish i was a robot" is Long's broadside against the mass media and Claxton's "christine" is mostly spoken-word, dedicated to his soul mate.
littlejeans with Teradactyl, Life in the Iron Lung, Little Moments, Spare Batteries and other special guests -- a benefit for Teradactyl's East Coast tour In concert
Where: Avant Pop at Club Pauahi, 68 S. Pauahi St.
When: 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. today
Admission: $5; 18 and over
Also: 8 p.m. next Friday at the Coffee Factory, 1372 S. King St."We wrote all these songs before we even started as a band," Long said. Littlejeans is everyone's first-band experience, one that's been off-and-on for a year-and-a-half. With each member either finishing college or working a day job, it's a "logistical nightmare" to practice, let alone gig.
But after littlejeans' first show in September 2001, Wood said they were relatively pleased to be "able to pull it off live." And they've become better musicians -- maybe even noticeably better than the band's CD reflects.
"With this band," Claxton said, "it's not about being so intent on getting the song perfect in performance -- it's more about the energy."
"I know we've gotten some disparaging criticism about the sound of the production on the CD, saying that we're basically a bunch of hobbyists," Wood said. "But it doesn't reflect our commitment to making this band work."
"It was an accurate reflection of what we sounded after the first five weeks of rehearsals," Yasuhara said.
Overall, littlejeans just wants to make good songs. Is that so wrong?
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