EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Whalebones - Another Jungle
We first laid eyes on Whalebones last April from the back of a heady Big Sur roadhouse called Fernwood. It was the Folk Yeah Spring Festival and the band was from Seattle. And like any Northwest rock outfit worth their salt, they took their noodles crunchy, closed their eyes and used that wailer girlie harmony to absolute perfection. Very Crazy Horse. Borderline epic. Not to cop out or anything, but they're the kinda songs that you'd imagine sound their best in a van on a sunny day, close to some water. We're so so psyched, not only to get exclusive access to "Another Jungle," but to get lowdowns on both downloads from Whalebones songwriter, Justin Deary. Go ahead and freak out.
DOWNLOAD: Whalebones - Another Jungle
DOWNLOAD: Whalebones - Don't You Know
JUSTIN: "Another Jungle" was written right around the time my girlfriend and I got back together. I had been really bummed about us splitting up and then we got back together and we were both stoked. It's partially about the idea of fate, which I don't necessarily believe in, although it's fun to think about, and partially about how when you're newly single it's easy to get trapped in the party zone, which usually is just a result of not knowing what else to do with yourself when you're lonely. Being in another jungle is just being way outside of your comfort zone. And, I like those two words together.
As far as the sound of the song...I'd recently seen Oakley Hall and they blew my mind. Looking back I think I was certainly influenced by them- the dual vocals and the middle jammy break down with the "ahhhs." We did a West Coast tour with them last September, including a trip out to Joshua Tree. Super good times.
"Don't You Know" -- also a break up song. I just had to say all that stuff...it's a very personal song, totally vulnerable. Sometimes I don't wanna play that one at shows cuz i don't want to revisit those feelings in front of a bunch of strangers. It's kind of like reading an old love letter. People tend to reference Neil/Crazy Horse which I can see. That one was fun to record cuz we had played it a few different ways earlier and none of them felt right to me. Then we just simplified the rhythm of the whole thing and it clicked. Amy's organ sounds killer and the guitar solos at the end are great. Working out the harmonies was really fun as well. We recorded all that stuff in our house and it felt really natural and warm.
