"A perfect storm of breakbeats and sheer rage."
- A Model Of Control Webzine
Scotland's leading agent provocateurs, alt rockers Je$us Loves Amerika announced their arrival in 2002 with their politically outspoken, pro-animal and Human Rights beliefs. With the release of their debut album, the jarring Advanced Burial Technology, receiving rave reviews, JLA quickly established themselves as a formidable live act, a cataclysmic, six-legged groove machine that played shows the length of the UK. As they gained momentum, the band enjoyed a slot at the legendary Infest Festival before one particularly chaotic show at the Whitby Gothic Festival where the band destroyed their gear onstage following an unexpected but demanded encore, throwing broken synths into the crowd to keep as souvenirs of the occasion.
With the success of Advanced Burial Technology behind them and reports that the album was outselling every other act through underground distributor Darkcell, despite the absence of any kind of marketing budget, all that remained was to figure out what to do next. Notorious for the their wild sense of humour, and natural ability to cause offence, JLA provoked outrage by announcing the (fictional) death of one of the band’s original members, an incident that seemed as logical point as any for the band to take the decision to step backfrom all things JLA in order to distance themselves from what had gone before and to focus on the next stage in their evolution.
After several years in the wilderness, JLA returned to the frontline and found themselves busier than ever before. Announcing their return with high profile live shows alongside Nitzer Ebb and touring with Frontline Assembly before heading to Stockholm, Sweden, for their first international headline show. With this resurgence in activity came demand for new material, which the band have been honing and refining over the last few years, their dedication to quality over quantity the focus around which JLA perpetually operate.
2010's national UK tour, The Incineratour, with label mates Concrete Lung and Digicore, gave JLA the opportunity to road test the new songs before entering the studio with Phil Barry of Cubanate and Be My Enemy infamy behind the mixing desk. These sessions resulted in the limited edition single, FYA, which was released to celebrate a live show with the mighty Front 242, and almost sold out its entire run immediately. A second single, Breathe, was released to celebrate Je$us Loves Amerika headlining their first festival, the inaugural Alba Underground festival in their home town, Glasgow, late in 2012. This was swiftly followed by a manic show in London supporting Sulpher, who feature both Rob Holliday from The Prodigy and Mud from Pop Will Eat Itself.
On course to deliver the third EP in their Three Colours trilogy this Easter, the band will then focus on completing their second album and a new EP, both due out in the summer of 2013, and Je$us Loves Amerika are looking to capitalise on this release by booking shows and festivals across mainland Europe, and are already booked to play the UK’s newest music festival, Alt-Fest, in August 2014.
Je$us Loves Amerika are: Brydon Cheyney, Patrick Dougan and Anthony Johnston
