Artist description Loud and melodic. Abstract and energetic. Take a colorful drawing and transform it into a song.

Music Style indie-rock

Musical Influences Throwing Muses, Seam, Versus, Husker Du, Guided by Voices

Artist History A BRIEF, YET SURPRISINGLY COMPLETE HISTORY OF JUMPING BOMB ANGEL by Amy Borchwald Well, I know for a fact that there’s not a lot of Jumping Bomb Angel history yet. I also know that there is some of it that no one should concern himself with. For what it is worth, we had an "original" drummer that wasn’t me, and an "original" bass player who was. I’ve put that all behind me, now why don’t you? The origins of Jumping Bomb Angel can be traced to the deep, dark catacombs of Columbia College’s Writing Center, where an aspiring bass player and accomplished ASL interpreter asked a sleepy-eyed writing tutor "Weren’t you in my theory class last semester?" Pretending to remember, I agreed and guessed that I was. As banter will, ours led us to the plain fact that she played bass and my band was VERY eager to find a fresh face on that very instrument. Obviously, nature took its course way back then in 1997, and Jumping Bomb Angel was born, again. Since then, I guess, we’ve been rocking wildly in attempt to hone our own little niche in the world. Subsequently, we’ve gotten some more than generous invitations to play in front of gathered crowds. Unfortunately, our first effort was foiled by a faulty electrical system, forcing our small gathered crowd to endure the first few bars of "Appolonia James" ad nauseum while our monitors, mics, and speakers worked on their own, erratic, accord. Luckily, though, our second effort live proved most favorable, from what I can recall and have had related to me by on-lookers. Our electricity endured, more people showed, and we got free beer. (All thanks to Joe and his raucous graduation bash. Those not in attendance still recall their regrets.) Since then, we’ve been able to spew out a demo tape, use many a beer bottle as wind instrument, record some tunes in a "studio" (yet another basement) and indulge in a few more grandiose plans. Hold on to your hats! Soon, we may invest in a CD project, play some out of town shows, and hopefully take Chicago by storm with our own special brand of loud, so-called indie rock. (So independent, the independents won’t return our calls--cool.) ‘Till the next big thing. Oh, and FYI, it seems that since the advent of our band, 2/3’s of us have managed to GRADUATE COLLEGE and MOVE ON to better things. Personally, I wish the lagging member the best in her desperate attempt to cling to her youth. Go, girl! ----- July 2001 Welcome back! All is well in JBA land, contrary to the rumors that our private jet went down over Osaka, Japan. I promised to update this history after the next big thing, but as that has yet to occur I thought it best to write so I would not forget how. So what's new you ask? We are all a few years older and wiser having weathered many a Kerrigan's show and escaping (just barely) from the hell on earth that is Madison, Wisconsin. Forget about the Middle East--if you really want to live on the edge, (and see the dregs that evolution has forsaken) go to Madison and don't forget your crack pipe. That aside, we have also shlepped our musical wares to other cultural meccas such as Bloomington and Rockford, IL. Personally, I can only vouch for Kerrigan's as a cool place to hang and hit the Heinies. Say hey to Wendy when you go and you might get some birthday cake! Um, I guess we've recorded quite a bit as well. Last year we finished up our first full lengther complete with full length title "In the Absence of Mother's Helper". It was super- happy-fun to record, although in the process I became mightily allergic to the eight minute trek through Brady's psyche known as Water Carrier. Scary stuff. Most recently we've completed an EP called "Call it Skeptic Rock". Once again, we recorded it ourselves, although we were courting Sir George Martin as producer. Unfortunately, he never called us back after we offered to pay him in Honey Nut Cheerios. All joking aside (uh, yeah) I think that the EP is the best thing we've done to date. One song's got a neat slide guitar part that sounds like a whale and another's about heaven but called Racing With Satan. It's neat! On a more personal note, I can also say that all is well. I've recovered from my tour of duty at Columbia College, having been honorably discharged last June. Melodie's been scouring the Chicago nightlife, seeing more shows per month than the average bouncer sees in a year. As for the big guy, Carlson is now lawfully wedded and the proud papa of two. (Cats that is.) Anyhoo, the EP should be available as soon as Brady says so, so look for it sometime after the next presidential "election". 'Till I think of something else. . .

Group Members Brady Carlson, guitar and voice; Melodie Lamkey, bass; Amy Borchwald, drum kit

Instruments guitar, bass and drums

Albums Demo (1998); In the Absence of Mother's Helper (2000); Call It Skeptic Rock (2001)

Location Chicago, IL - USA

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