Jews and Catholic’s “Civilized” is a Near-Holy Experience

I have a confession to make.

This review was supposed to come a long time ago. And I do mean a very long time ago. Back in October 2013 (can any of us remember that far?), a Winston-Salem band, cleverly named Jews and Catholics sent me their album, “Civilized” to review on Keep Charlotte Boring, as they were headed to town to play a show with the Shine Brothers (a group of equal awesomeness, made up of ex-members of the Black Angels) at Snug Harbor.
Ironically enough, I was out of town, attending a (religious) family event and couldn’t make it to the show, but made plans to review “Civilized” when I returned. As luck would have it, the universe had slightly different plans for me – specifically, these plans were to shake and demolish the foundation and interior of what I had come to refer to as “my life”, leaving me disoriented and dazed, with a bunch of personal and family issues to deal with. Seven months later, the dust has cleared but I still had one piece of unfinished business – reviewing Jews and Catholics’ stellar album. So here we are. Forgive me, Charlotte, for I have kept this gem to myself for way too long.

—————————————————–

I went to Winston-Salem once. My friends who were in a [now-defunct] band [who will remain unnamed] were playing a show at The Cave. I was underage and had the time of my life drinking Sparks and eating fresh truck stop fried chicken in the back of the van. Somewhere along the ride, I’d grabbed a newspaper or magazine of some sort that was supposed to inform me of local events – I was especially interested in the ones that were taking place after my 21st birthday, only a few months away. After a few minutes, my reading material was snatched from my greasy fingers by a friend who proclaimed “Nothin’ good ever happens in Winston, dude!”

Well, similar to the Charlotte scene, the Winston-Salem music scene is apparently growing.
Jews and Catholics are a trio made up of Alanna Metzer-Holderfield, Eddie Garcia and Tyler Reeder. While all three have presumably killed it in their previous bands, I will venture to say that Jews and Catholics seems to be a project in which the band can not only let loose expressively but experimentally as well. Just to give a clearer picture, the band describes themselves on their Facebook page as “brain splattering upright bass meets fuzzy frantic guitars at car chase rhythms with vein burst vocals.”

To put Jews and Catholics into a category would be pigeonholing them – each song on Civilized seems to be dug up from different places, some of them dark, some bright, some very disorienting.
“Bing Bong” heads the album off with what I can only describe as controlled chaos – dueling vocals overstuffed with emotion and sludgy riffs that take you back to some alleyway in Seattle circa 1992. The group seems to channel Sonic Youth (circa Daydream Nation) throughout the album, but never so much as on “Bastards”, “Ambulance” and “Civilized” – you can almost hear Thurston Moore shaking those long locks in approval.
Jews and Catholics aren’t a one trick band, though, they’ve got a more upbeat, dancier side that they let hang out on tracks like “Sharkitecht”, “Sabine Women” and “Tokyo” – although the type of dancing at hand is more “slam” than “shimmy”. Jews and Catholics seem to be mildly influenced by the Smashing Pumpkins as well (like if Billy Corgan still had a soul, but I digress). The entire album is a journey down a bumpy back road that’s slightly familiar, sometimes muddy, sometimes sunny, yet pleasant nonetheless. Civilized ends much like it begins – intense and engaging, shrouded by a bit of uncertainty.

Civilized is not an album to sleep on. Or sleep to. In fact, it’s kind of like caffeine and you shouldn’t really mess with it too close to bedtime or you’ll end up staying up. Not just ’cause it’s good, but it’s one of those albums that seems like you hear something new with each listen. Jews and Catholics have the kind of sound you hoped still existed, but wasn’t sure if it did or not. It does, right here in North Carolina, my friends. Remember when indie was dirty? Catch yourself a copy of Civilized, and you will. And for God’s sake, if they ever roll through town again, don’t miss them, or you may have a hard time forgiving yourself.

Upcoming Shows:
June 17th, 2014 @ NY Pizza, Greensboro, NC w/the Kneads
August 29th, 2014 @ the Garage, Winston-Salem, NC w/Horizontal Hold and the Kneads

http://jewsandcatholics.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jewsandcatholics
http://www.reverbnation.com/jewsandcatholics