LOS ANGELES (myspace.com/jonezetta) - Like the rich blues embedded in the soil around their Southern small town roots, JONEZETTA-who are rejuvenating the pop landscape with sharp, clever lyrics and danceable rock rhythms-will release their full length debut POPULARITY October 3 via Seattle indie Tooth & Nail. With their emphasis track "
Welcome Home" set to begin building buzz at alternative radio
September 19, JONEZETTA-ROBERT CHISOLM (vocals/guitar), KYLE HOWE (guitars), TY GARVEY (bass/vocals) and MICK PARSONS (drums)-will embark on a two-month U.S. tour with hotly-tipped acts Mute Math and Shiny Toy Guns.
Director Shane Drake-fresh off winning the top prize at the MTV VMA's for "Video of The Year" (Panic At The Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" video)-helmed the video for JONEZETTA's upcoming single "Get Ready (Hot Machete)." The video-shot yesterday in Los Angeles-is set in a ski lodge circa the 1970's and depicts an ensemble of characters trapped in time celebrating. Look for news of the video's debut soon.
Produced by Steve Wilson (The Class of '98) and mixed by J.R. McNeely (Relient K, Eisley, Acceptance), JONEZETTA's POPULARITY is full of mood and atmosphere with irresistible hooks that slice through the fog the way fun song titles like "Get Ready (Hot Machete)" suggest. JONEZETTA is already receiving early critical acclaim. Outburn hailed the album in its October issue:
"When Jonezetta frontman Robert Chisolm bellows out the words, 'Wake Up!' on their vivacious song, 'Burn It Down,' it's like an outcry to uninspired music everywhere. Take a note from the exhilarated foursome from Clinton, Mississippi, whose pulsating grooves of dance beats are like a dose of rock with an added shot of adrenaline. Garnering early comparisons to the likes of The Faint and Bloc Party and extracting influences from The Cure to Tears for Fears, Jonezetta present a sense of urgency in both their songs and lyrics-an urgency that will be audible on their debut full-length Popularity."
Isolation breeds artistry, and like The Smiths and The Cure, the JONEZETTA story begins with creative people bursting through the seams of an otherwise stuffy environment. "We come from small families within a sheltered Southern town and our parents made it obvious that we were to go to school for twelve years and then to go for four more years," frontman CHISOLM deadpans.
After a bidding war that involved several major labels, JONEZETTA signed with Seattle indie-label Tooth & Nail which has ultimately became the largest deal for a new artist in the label's history. After tours with Anberlin, Emery, Maylene & The Sons of Disaster as well as As Cities Burn, the group has quickly amassed a slew of fans across the rock and pop underground as well as supporters in the music industry, and the mainstream is next.
JONEZETTA's goals remain as modest as ever. "We want to be the first band to sell a billion records," laughs CHISOLM. "We want to play every continent in the world. And then, we want to meet Prince."
"People take themselves too seriously and as a result music today has become such a downer," CHISOLM adds. "We encourage kids to enjoy themselves."