The Joggers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Joggers | |
|---|---|
| Image:Joggers-PromoPhoto.jpg |
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| Country | Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Years active | 2001 – current |
| Genres | Indie Rock Alternative Rock |
| Labels | Startime International TLA Records |
| Members | (clockwise from top left) Darrell Bourque Jake Morris Ben Whitesides Dan Wilson |
| Past members | Murphy Kasiewicz |
The Joggers are a four-piece band hailing from Portland, Oregon. They play intricate, complex songs marked by virtousic playing which still retain a catchy pop sensibility. Lead singer and songwriter Ben Whitesides provides unique song-appropriate vocal phrasings, and his energetic guitar playing is matched equally by the second guitarist, often abandoning the rhythm/lead style of two guitars for lines which snake around each other. Murphy Kasiewicz played second guitar on all of the Joggers releases including With A Cape And A Cane, and was replaced by Dan Wilson (from Alaska) after that album, touring the US in support of it. Bassist Darrell Bourque, a longtime puckhead also shuns traditional bass lines and keeps an active bass (often with effective pauses) which help propel songs over Jake Morris's fluid yet calculated rumbling of the the drums. Jake has also played drums on tour with French Kicks. All members sing parts at various times, with unique and sometimes antique harmonies, and sometimes play various instruments.
The original members are mostly former New Englanders, and after meeting in Portland formed a band in 2000 under the name Stateside and released one now impossible to find s/t EP. After a name-conflict with another Stateside they changed their name, supposedly because they liked the two g's, but is more likely derived from a playing style referred to as "scale jogging". In 2002 they released an eight-song s/t EP The Joggers on TLA Records, which is now also out of print. From that EP, the song "Devil Wears Earplugs" appeared on Supercuts, the compilation from Startime International, who signed the band. Three other songs from the Joggers debut EP (also called "the Birds" because of its cover) appeared on their proper debut album, 2003's Solid Guild, considered an unheralded masterpiece by many critics. 2005 saw the release of "With A Cape And A Cane", another complex-yet-fun album which brought even more critical if not commercial success.
Ben and Darrell also make up the Cajun Gems, who have one self-released album available only from the Joggers site. It has all the quirkiness and playfulness of the Joggers, but with more of a folk sound. Dan has been recently playing with the Cajun Gems as well.
