Jale - Aunt Betty (EP) (1st press)

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	I Lied	02:45
	2	Twisted	03:22

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Sweetness	02:54

Photos

Videos

No Video

Information/Write-up

Jale formed in April 1992 at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, when four art-school students—Jennifer Pierce, Alyson MacLeod, Laura Stein, and Eve Hartling—assembled borrowed instruments, a handful of rough song ideas, and a shared sense that Halifax’s small but fast-rising indie scene was ready for something bright, melodic, and defiantly their own. Their name, an acronym of Jennifer, Alyson, Laura, and Eve, reflected the band’s egalitarian nature: all four wrote, all four sang, all four shaped Jale’s sound. Five weeks after their first rehearsal they were onstage, folded instantly into the same community that nurtured Sloan, Eric’s Trip, Bubaiskull, Hardship Post, Chaz Rules, and Thrush Hermit.

That summer, Cinnamon Toast Records—Halifax’s homemade, colour-vinyl, art-school-leaning label—selected Jale for its second-ever 7-inch, CT002, following Bubaiskull’s inaugural Insex. In a CBC interview, the label founders famously described their bands as “sweet and sticky but crunchy at the same time,” a line that could have been written with Jale in mind: chiming dual guitars wrapped around distortion, close harmonies thickened by tape hiss, and a songwriting sensibility that balanced pop brightness with an undercurrent of sharpness and bite. Their debut single, “Aunt Betty”, became one of the essential early documents of the Halifax Pop Explosion’s first wave and helped frame Cinnamon Toast as more than a local curiosity.

Sub Pop took notice. In 1993, Jale contributed “Again” to Sub Pop’s double 7-inch sampler Never Mind the Molluscs, a release that brought the Halifax sound to American and European college radio. The band signed with Sub Pop soon after and began work on their full-length debut Dreamcake, released in 1994. Recorded partly at CBC Studio H and finished at Smart Studios, the album showcased Jale’s signature blend of melodic clarity, layered vocals, and warm distortion. Dreamcake resonated widely, selling roughly 40,000 copies across the U.S. and Europe—an extraordinary reach for a young Halifax band still only two years removed from borrowed gear and campus practice rooms.

Following extensive touring, Jale issued the Closed EP in 1995, marking the departure of drummer Alyson MacLeod, who left to join Hardship Post. With new drummer Mike Belitsky, the group travelled to Chicago to record with producer Brad Wood. The sessions yielded So Wound (1996), a sharper and more guitar-forward record that included one of the defining singles of 1990s Canadian indie, “All Ready.” Critics praised the album’s confidence and cohesion, but shifting priorities at Sub Pop and the pressures of constant touring created strain.

In early 1997, Eve Hartling stepped away to focus on raising a family, and the remaining members—Pierce, Stein, and Belitsky—reformed as The Vees, releasing a final EP on Murderecords later that year. Jale’s brief but luminous run remains one of the defining stories of the Halifax Pop Explosion: four art-school musicians who, in the span of five years, helped carry the city’s music from local clubs and hand-folded seven-inches to international recognition, without ever losing the melodic sensibility or collaborative spirit that shaped their beginning.
-Robert Williston

Musicians
Jennifer Pierce: vocals, guitar
Eve Hartling: vocals, guitar
Laura Stein: vocals, bass
Alyson MacLeod: vocals, drums

Production
Produced by Terry Pulliam
Plated by Greg Lee Processing (L-40473)

Artwork
Original black-and-white sleeve; hand-numbered on record label

Notes
First pressing issued on magenta vinyl
Second pressing issued on red translucent vinyl
Recorded and produced October 1992

Comments