By: Emily Stagename

Murfreesboro, Tennessee’s own Jerseybird are a force of pure angst-rock madness that’s not to  be reckoned with.  

When I was in Nashville, Tennessee, there was a gig with the band Raccoon Tour headlining.  Though Raccoon Tour was as good as advertised (the lead singer jumped into the audience and did the Macarena with the crowd), I didn’t pay much attention to the opening acts until the show began. This was a mistake, as the band Jerseybird ended up blowing the roof off of the place by the end of their set. 

To describe their playing style is difficult. It’s somewhere between auditory premeditated murder and  impulsive, noise-chasing delirium, but it never feels unjustified. There’s a method to the  madness that only works because of the deep bond the members have with one another.  

When the band was interviewed for The Oracle, Braydon, the band’s lead guitar player, sheepishly said, “I just wanted to hang out with Conner and Tyler.” Though it could be argued that hanging out with your friends is the most punk rock reason to start a band, it also helps give the band a potently assured level of confidence on stage. 

“My God, My Son,” the band’s debut and only single (as of now, a new one is releasing in  October,) is a song that justifies that confidence. Through a ferociously powerful meld of emo and noise rock tradition, quiet/loud song dynamic, and the finest religious trauma that Eastern  Tennessee has to offer, the band paints an auditory picture that must be heard to be believed.  Every second of the song is spent getting grander and grander, until it fades out on the same  bombastic cloud of fuzz guitar that it rolled in on.  

Despite the cleanness of their live show, Jerseybird is not opposed to getting grungy. The band  wears its DIY ethos on its sleeve, in a way that’s both satisfyingly proud and refreshingly genuine. When the lead singer, Tyler, was asked what drew the band to DIY aesthetics, the interview truly lit up. He said, verbatim: “Working with what you have can build a  very genuine bond between fans and artists locally. That’s pretty important to be a part of that  local DIY community because everyone has those same goals, and everyone is always trying to  push each other to be great. It’s a pretty cool thing.” 

Photo by Gabby Bloomfield