JPNSGRLS’ Circulation Released July 15th

New York, NY (May 15, 2014) – Vancouver quartet JPNSGRLS (pronounced “Japanese Girls”) released The Sharkweek EP earlier this year on limited edition vinyl and are now proud to announce the release of their debut full-length, Circulation – out July 15 via Light Organ Records.

The album is produced by Steve Bays (Hot Hot Heat, Fur Trade, Mounties) and mastered by Greg Calbi (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys) and kicks off with the feedback squeal of combustible opener “Smalls”. The track blends the sounds of a garage-y Wombats with Nirvana’s “Aneurysm” and explores the excitement and self-destruction of drug use and conversely takes its title and chorus from the classic coming-of-age film, The Sandlot (“You’re killing me smalls”). “Smalls” has been conquering at Canadian radio and is available now atiTunes. You can stream the track at Soundcloud and YouTube and feel free to post.

The thundering “Mushrooms” takes its title from the Sylvia Plath poem of the same name and is an anthem about fighting back against oppression. The track was originally featured as a bonus track on The Sharkweek EP 12-inch and Crave Online called it, “Triptastically excellent… a song that calls to mind Dinosaur Jr. on a speed binge with Hot Hot Heat.” Impose notes the song, “…keeps the action frenetic, with memorable lines that continue to linger amid the shredding licks.” The ferocious track also has an “animated video epic” directed byJesse Davidge featuring a world in decline where a perceived threat leads to redemption.

The twelve songs on Circulation were tracked in just seven days with the band eschewing unnecessary frills in favor of electrifying live energy. The results are focused and cohesive while still retaining JPNSGRLS’ signature eclecticism.

“We wanted to get it sounding as live and raw as possible,” says guitarist Oliver Mann, noting that nearly all of the parts can be replicated live. Singer Charlie Kerr offers, “Something we said a lot in the studio was, ‘What would the Pixies do?’ We went with simplicity a lot of the time, and I think that’s a really good thing.”

This less-is-more approach makes Circulation a whirlwind of straight-out-of-the-garage noisiness and earworm hooks. “Tiger” shifts between spiky riffs and cloud-scraping, vintage pop choruses that feature Bays on backup harmonies. Elsewhere, “Southern Comforting” is an atmospherically echoing scorcher that explores toxic relationships — both with people and with alcohol.

JPNSGRLS have been on the road in Canada with July Talk and recently finished a tour with label-mates Mounties. The quartet head to Singapore to perform at Music Matters next week and will then return to the Great White North to showcase at NXNE in June. They’ll be doing their first tour of the U.S. at the end of the summer.