New Life For Lies

I did a trade with someone a few months ago for a big item, and he threw in a test press for free, which was a nice gesture. It wasn't a record that I had heard, but given it was on Jade Tree Records, I figured it was worth a listen. I downloaded the songs and pretty soon found that it had worked it's way onto my daily playlist. So I then decided that I needed to buy a 'regular' version of the record, which took longer than I thought. But a copy came up for sale in the UK recently at a pretty cheap price, and when it mentioned that the cover was still in shrink I knew that this was the copy for I had been waiting for.

The record in question is titled 'New Life For Lies' and is by a band called Jones Very.

Jones Very was a three piece from Boston, MA and was active from 1989-1992, in which time they put out three full length records, of wqhich this was the final one released by Jade Tree Records. The most notable fact about the band is that it featured ex Articles Of Faith vocalist / guitarist Vic Bondi on vocals (and guitar). Musically I would say that this sounds pretty close to DC hardcore. It won't blow you away on the first listen, but it time this will sink into your brain and demand that you come back to it.

From the copeis for sale on discogs, this record seems to have been pressed on all manner of ugly and uninteresting colours of vinyl. My copy looks like a greyish brown, although when held to the light it looks a bit more exciting:

The test press that I was initially sent that inspired me to listen to this band in the first place is pretty staandard fare. It comes in a plain white paper sleeve and has nothing of interest about it really. I put it next to the regular sleeve as is usual practice.

I have a new theory around Jade Tree test pressings. Most that I have seen over the years come with a small sticker on the label which contains the band name, record title and catalog number. However, I have also recently seen some Jade Tree tests with no sticker. So my theory is that the ones without stickers are true tests, whereas the ones with stickers were used as promo copies and sent out to whoever. Obviously I cannot confirm this theory as yet, but in time I would like to get confirmation.

Anyway, the Jade Tree website that still exists has this nice quote about this record that I quite liked that and thought it a good way to close this post off.

In JONES VERY, Bondi is a multifaceted character weaving between the two with both dexterous restraint and unchecked passion, inadvertently creating one of the best records you’ve probably never heard.