The Jins

w/ Olive Vox

Friday, October 11th, 2024

Doors at 9:00, Music at 9:30

$15 ADV, $20 DOS

The Jins

Every journey needs a soundtrack, and right now its Vancouver trio The Jins’ throttling new single, “Metro”. Building off the ‘90s-crushed guitar rock of the group’s Death Wish EP (2019), the first single from their upcoming It’s A Life album is an in-the-red earworm made for those times where you just wanna leave the house, throw your headphones on, and start wandering (“When I have nowhere to go, I’ll take the metro”).

“It’s supposed to sound nihilistic, just reflecting on how mundane and directionless our lives are at times,” vocalist-guitarist Ben Larsen explains of the track, which officially hits streaming services March 14, along with a music video co-animated by Larsen and Jins bassist Hudson Partridge. “A lot of times it feels like when you look back on your life, things aren’t super stable or clear. The future isn’t super clear, either. You just trust that if you get on the metro, it’s all going to work out—it’s kind of a metaphor for a transition in life.”

That sense of existential uncertainty is nevertheless juxtaposed against the Jins’ latest burst of post-grunge immediacy—melodious, if sandpaper-shorn vocal hooks; a rip-snorting guitar solo; effervescent bursts of new wave organ. On the surface, fusing the Jins’ purposeful energy with a meandering transit ride seems like a weird flex, but it works in the context of the trio’s most ambitious recording yet.

Like Death Wish before it, It’s a Life was tracked with producer Dave Genn (54-40), with sessions split between his Bridgeburner studio and Vancouver rock institution the Warehouse. Naturally, songs like “Metro” and “Feel It Inside” match the Big Muff riffing and landscape-leveling drum pounding of their early work. With a bit more room to breathe on the 10-song It’s a Life, though, the Jins also detour through cello-emboldened fields of Americana (“Clementine”), gloom-laden proto-psych (“Jin Sabbath”) and life-contemplating alt-ballads (“Crossroads”).

“We talked to Dave about doing a full length, and having more songs that we could take risks on,” Partridge recalls, Larsen likewise noting that the record at times “feels transitory.” Like a well-charted route, though, the branching off never feels quixotic or disrespectful to the Jins’ artistic DNA. “We just felt like it was a broader reflection of our experience,” Larsen explains, adding, “At the end of the day, what we’re doing is stripped down rock and roll. It’s very ‘90s inspired. We’re not going to deny that about ourselves.”

Eight years on from their first practice, the Jins have both honed and added dimension to their crunched-up alt-rock approach. Like the pigeons they based their name on, the Jins are transitory creatures ready to see where the wind takes them next. “Pigeons seem ubiquitous, but they’re kind of overlooked,” Larsen suggests. “People think they’re like flying rats; I just think they’re really funny. They’re just really interesting creatures that are underrated.”

With a new album now on the horizon, the trio are excited to tour for the first time since the dawn of the pandemic. It’ll be their first time hitting stages outside of Vancouver since Death Wish’s “She Said” unexpectedly took off on TikTok and brought the band to an even bigger streaming audience (the song is 3 million and counting on Spotify). The Jins, to say the least, are ready to spread their wings. As “Metro” only gains momentum, they won’t be underappreciated much longer.

The Jins are Ben Larsen (vocals, guitar), Hudson Partridge (bass) and Jamie Warnock (drums, vocals).

Olive Vox

Olive Vox is the alt rock project of Mansfield, TX brothers Parker and Caden Shea. The duo started releasing music in 2021 and since then has gained a large following on social media and regionally. Olive Vox’s sound pulls from across the alternative rock genre, with most clear links to bands like Nirvana, Cage the Elephant, and the Foo Fighters.

Since the band’s inception, Olive Vox has toured across the country and has gained renown in Texas for their energetic and mosh-worthy shows. In this time they’ve had the opportunity to share stages with major acts such as garage rock icon Ty Segall at Levitation Austin as well as grunge legends Puddle of Mud.

Exhale

Exhale is a noisy grunge band from Lynchburg, Virginia. Formed in 2018 by Thomas Smith, and Jaden Brooks while attending high school, the band has made their staple in the Lynchburg music scene. In 2021 Exhale played their first show and have been in love with the aspect of it since. The band is composed of Thomas Smith on vocals and rhythm guitar, Luke Reed on lead guitar, Sebastian Parker on bass, and Jaden Brooks on drums and vocals. Exhale focuses primarily on making many styles of grunge rock songs and a fun, all inclusive live experience - taking a variety of inspirations from bands such as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Alice in Chains, Primus, Sublime, Show Me The Body, Rage Against the Machine, Fang, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and much more. Exhale has a variety of songs, classic grunge tunes such as "Feel Good Song", "Steplist", and "I'm So Sick", slower and more relaxed songs such as "Drunk Memory", "I Know You Hate It Too", and "On Day One", experimental metal songs such as "Man I Feel Like a Woman", and "5:50am." While they never stop having as much fun as possible, even through the hard times Exhale continues to work hard together as they branch out into the world and make the most of their brand.