LOUDCROWD PICK OF THE WEEK: Jessie Evans Let Me On

I think I’m a little obsessed. I found this gem in the top friends list on 99 Records’ Myspace profile, which would make perfect sense to any fan of Lizzy Mercier Descloux, ESG, Konk, etc.

I was shocked to see she was unsigned, so I decided to do a little research on her. It seems that she spent quite some time in San Francisco before landing in Berlin, where she currently resides. While in the Bay Area, she contributed to that far too infectious late 70s early 80s punky new wave dark disco sound with bands like Autonervous (with Bettina Koster), The Vanishing, and the all-girl garage blood bath Subtonix. A little more research led me to find out she also worked with one of my favorite disco bands of present, Portland’s Glass Candy, on their Life After Sundown 12”.

“Let Me On” is constructed quite simply with a classic 808, scattered drums lines with bouncing echoes, and a saxophone that follows the vocals so melodically, it feels like she and her horn are on duet mode. But don’t stop there. Her debut album Is It Fire? is packed so tightly with burners it made this pick anything but easy. Make sure to spend some time with Class Magic, Scientist of Love and Sera El Fuego. And to answer your question Jessie, yes, it IS fire and it’s burning high into the night and setting the moon a blaze.

-Dirty Jean