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Genre-Fluid Stalwart Punk Jean Caffeine Shares Psychobilly Single “Mammogram”

October 25, 2024
William Brookson
Latest posts by William Brookson (see all)

With a story stretching back to the San Francisco punk scene, Jean Caffeine made the scene and made a zine in the 70’s. She made gig flyers and shared stages with The Zeros, The Avengers, The Dils, X and The Bags. In the 80’s, Jean moved to NYC and hit the underground art and music scene. She was invited by Ann Magnuson to drum for Pulsallama, a 7-13 piece percussion ensemble who opened shows for The Clash. In 2016, the group was sampled by rapper Danny Brown on his song, “Dance in the Water.”

A move to Austin put her center stage in Jean Caffeine‘s All-Nite Truckstop. She shifted from drummer to songwriter to front person, playing roadhouses and coffee houses and sharing stages with Lucinda Williams, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mojo Nixon and Southern Culture on the Skids. In the early aughts, Jean spent a few years in Hamilton and Toronto – a fertile time where she played shows with her new compadre, composer Mike Trebicock.

(Sub)-genre fluid, Jean Caffeine‘s music blends indie, retro-pop, punk, folk, rock and roots, served up with big smiles and the occasional growl. Part PSA, part humorous novelty song, the new track, “Mammogram,” is a darker shift from much of Jean‘s music. “It’s moody and scary (and funny) because mammograms are a nightmare,” she explains. So, Jean is releasing this single in time for Halloween.

Jean calls her Austin band featured on the track: Male Order Brides. It’s Jon Nottarthomas (Ian McGlagan) on guitar, Zack Humphrey (Megafauna) on drums, Josh Robins (Invincible Czars) on bass and Jean on electrified acoustic and vocals. Interestingly, Josh’s main gigs is composing original scores to silent films and performing those soundtracks around the country.

Much of the video is borrowed from a silent film called Häxan by Benjamin Christensen which also serves as a hybrid documentary and live action picture about witchcraft in the Middle Ages. The film of the woman on the trapeze is by the inventor, Thomas Edison. The band at the top of the film is not the band on the track. Jean spends a lot of time in her hometown of San Francisco and these are Jean’s SF players, dubbed the Wuhan Splash. That band footage is by Neil Marshad.

But seriously, mammograms save lives and women need them. With toxins in our air, food and water, breast cancer is no longer only a middle-aged woman’s issue. More young women are being diagnosed with breast cancer. So if you have breasts – get one! – Jean Caffeine

1. What did you enjoy most about the recording process of this new release?
Recording is so gratifying. You are shaping something from nothing almost like a stone carver.
I enjoyed collaborating with my engineer and co-producer  Lars Göransson, and hearing what my musicians bring to the track. There are always surprises in the studio and we both love that. I also love hearing the mixes in my car. My car is old and still has a CD player so  I get the mixes on CD. The car stereo is so much better than my phone or bluetooth speakers.
 Also, the studio is quite close to my house with a good Taqueria at the halfway point. 
2. Share a nugget of advice that has resonated with you most over the years.
I like that worn adage, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It takes time to realize one’s projects. Especially if you are ADD as all get out like I am. And if you are getting bogged down, take a break or switch projects for a while or go out side and work in your garden for 20 minutes. 
3. Who would be your dream artist/band to co-headline a tour with?
Liz Phair, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop…but they’re all out of my league, but a girl can dream, right. Slightly more realizable goals might be Redd Kross or the Viagra Boys, or Wednesday out of Ashville. 
4. What sets your music apart from others in your genre? 
I rarely color in the lines or fit into a pre-made box. I’m pretty genre fluid. Some times I’m folky other times (retro) poppy other times rootsy or punk, this track is dirty blues. Irreverent and punk in attitude but not in sound.
5. Tell us what your favourite song is at the moment.
It’s impossible to narrow it down but I’ve been loving Stay Away from Downtown by REDD Kross https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCNY92RzKus
You can’t tell from my latest single, “Mammogram” but I often write hookier, more retro pop songs and this Redd Kross song is a hook-a-rama and has all these ear worms and layers at the end. And the Kiss make up they wear in the video is a riot. 

The Viagara Boys song from a couple years back is a little more in line with the darker bluesier humor infected track, “Punk Rock Loser” by the Viagra Boys. 

I also love “Quarry” by Wednesday. It came out last year.

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