This Saturday, Jepeto Solutions will warm up the stage for of Montreal at Tricky Falls. Although it’s true that the latter is highly regarded by many, I’ll be there mostly for the opening act.
Hailing from New York City, Jepeto Solutions were, up until recently, known as CE Schneider Topical. It consists of principal singer/songwriters Christina Schneider and Zach Phillips, both formerly of Jib Kidder. Touring/session member Quentin Moore (lead guitar) has also played with Phillips in a couple other bands that went by the names of Blanche Blanche Blanche and Martyr Group. Drum duties are handled by Derek Baron, who has previously played the skins with outfits such as The Lucky Thirteens and New Wave Hookers; A supergroup of sorts, and it shows by the marrying of the various stylings that each person’s erstwhile troupes displayed. The collective blends cleverly poetic lyrics with brain-tickling melodies. They’re certainly not afraid to stray from conventional rock standards, exhibited by them recording directly to tape, whilst occasionally flirting with complex time signatures, and what I suspect to be non-traditional chords. I cringe when using the umbrella term “lo-fi”, but am not quite sure how else to get my point across by describing them sonically to the uninformed. Although this ensemble is considerably straightforward and more accessible compared to their previous musical endeavors, these folks put out some refreshingly unique tunes. Feast your ears on their latest 7”:
It’s also worth noting that Zach once ran the excellent label, OSR, which was responsible for releasing a couple of JS records. The company sadly closed its doors earlier this month, so get some merch at the gig before supplies run out.
Tickets are available for $20 at All That Music, Eloise, and Golden Goose Tattoo.
You can also order online from Ticketfly.