Sonic Youth Gossip - derek's essentials #16: jeromes dream

jeromes dream - completed
alone records, 1997 - 2001

Ever listened to a record and felt that every song was specifically written to your life? Ever listened to a record that made you want to push walls in melancholic fury? I present to you, Jeromes Dream. Jeromes Dream are a mid nineties screamo band and one of the most unique bands of the bunch. Here you have furious noisy guitars, insane drums and weird vocals.

I'll tell you a little something about the vocals. While recording, the screamer has his microphone on the ground and this produces this amazing yelping sound, almost like someone screaming to get out of a bolted coffin. Live, the screamer would scream without a microphone and still produce a loud enough tone. The story goes that he would throw up pools of blood due to his harsh technique. If that's not dedication to a sound then I don't know what is.

As you could maybe guess, this 2 disc set compiles their whole discography. However, the first disc starts off with their last EP which has a very different sound to it. At that point the vocalist couldn't scream anymore so he used this weird distorted effect. After 8 or 9 tracks though, we are settled into their normal sound. It is obvious that the band use the band as an expressive release and this transcends to be an expressive release for the listener also.

Oh and the fantastic lyrics, always very short and abstract. They almost feel like haikus. Very beautifully written.

"It was September 13, 1997 when we played together for the first time. We met at Nick's mom's house and set up our shabby equipment in the basement. It was dirty. The ceilings were made up of dust, exposed electrical wire and splintered wood. We could barely see each other's faces because it was so dark. The only light that worked was across the room, hindered by a wall. But it didn't matter at that point; all that did was that we got to play.

We soon realized that what started as a spontaneous meeting was going to become the epicenter of our lives. Jeromes Dream allowed us to be liberated from all that hurt us. It also acted as base to our friendship. The three of us never new what we'd end up creating together, but it was clear that we needed each other to make what we made.

It was in a way unsettling how well we got along and how we seemed to not care about anything but being able to play music. We basked in the blissful ignorance of youth. It was the only way to live in a time where we saw little hope in anything else. We invested in our music. We invested in each other. It didn't matter how good or bad we were as a band, we believe JD is an accurate representation of what was going through our minds and hearts between 1997 and 2001."