On the back of Jon Reis' left shoulder is a tattoo.It's a picture of a speeding train, a bullet train to Vegas, perhaps, but I doubt it. The art itself is exceptional. Meticulous by design, deliberate in intent. Not wholly unlike the band Reis plays guitar for,

Drive Like Jehu.

Formed in August of 1990 in this months Seattle, San Diego, Jehu's sound defies description. The rythmn section is downright demonic and the guitars can be surprisingly noisy for how clean they can sound when clarity is called for. No goofy, twelve pedal midi tech shit either. Just guitars and amps. The vocals themselves whine and scrape like the aforementioned train coming to a grinding halt. With their sophomore album, Yank Crime, Jehu haven't changed a thing. There's still the same lethal combination of dischord and melody that earmarked their eponymous debut. And I fucking loved that first record. and the Bullet Train To Vegas single. and the track "Sinews" off the Headstart to Purgatory compilation. and any band that sounds remotely like them. Drive Like Jehu is cool like that. The songs themselves are a study in detail. They appear to lack direction at times but appearences are illusory. I don't believe there is a single note played by these San Diegans that is without an agenda. Even when songs venture into the nine minute range, and they manage to do it twice on the nine song Yank Crime. One of the things I really like about Jehu is the vocals and the extremes they are delivered. They can be as catchy as Superchunk or as abrasive as metal-to-metal brakes. Courtney Love has got nothing on Drive Like Jehu's Eric Froberg (a.k.a. Rick Froberg, a.k.a. Rick Fork, a.k.a. Rick Farr). But screamin's not the only thing Froberg does well (besides playing guitar) He's also an exceptional artist with credits for ads for Headhunter Records as well as the artwork for various skateboard related stuff. As for the rest of the band, drummer Mark Trombino holds a degree in computer music and works as a recording engineer (He recorded half the basics of Yank Crime and mixed all of them). Bassist Mike Kennedy is a freelance environmental analyst and guitarist Jon Reis (a.k.a. Speedo) plays and sings in Rocket From The Crypt besides working as a producer/recorder. Prior to Drive Like Jehu, Froberg and Reis fronted Fugazi's favorite West coast band, Pitchfork, and Kennedy and Trombino formed the rythmn section of a band called Night Soil Man. Both bands released records. I'm not familiar with Night Soil Man, but it makes sense that Reis once described Jehu as something that picked up where Pitchfork left off. Both Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu share the same innovative guitar work and unique vocals. If your wondering who or what Jehu is I've got a clue for ya. I'm not sure how true it is, but apparently Jehu was this biblical character who used to get piss drunk and drive this chariot all over town fucking shit up. Which is exactly what Jehu the band will be doing as they embark on the second U.S. tour and a European Tour shortly thereafter. All Aboard... -Sean Schroeder