WJ & The Sweet Sacrifice
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
WJ & The Sweet Sacrifice: All parts rock~n~roll in this handy. Channeling the dirgy upper lip of Elvis and the slow rock of Eddie Spaghetti. Jersey style. - Review Stalker
It's not rare to come across a band that is so excited to release their debut album they can't keep themselves from squeezing the topic as a non sequitur into any conversation. It's a common form of tourettes that overcomes anyone that has spent countless hours holed up in a tiny windowless box picking over abstract aural detail that only the insane could appreciate. Well, enter WJ & the Sweet Sacrifice. The difference is these guys (and gal) don't want you to simply hear it, they want you to enjoy it. In an age of aloof hipsters ripping off whatever scene is hot at the moment just to get an audience, it's rare to find a band that truly wants you to experience their music. I have never played with a band that gets so much satisfaction and appreciation out of an audience connecting with their set. The setup is that of a quintessential rock band with an alt-country twist. The rhythm section is Mike Mobius and Neil McAneny and they hold it down back beat style. Billy Ferrara Fronts the band with a throaty vocal style and presence that reminisces back to early Mike Ness and there are not many things that are better to watch than Erin Conners slinging guitar riffs over the entire mess. Beware! She's cute as a button but tougher than a bag full of angry rattle snakes. All together the sound is pretty unique and throughout the set hints of the Lies Lies Lies era Gn'R with Kings of Leon and Social D. can be faintly heard. These guys wear their hearts on their sleeves and they have a new LP out on Moonlight Mile Records.
http://www.myspace.com/thesweetsacrifice - http://crappyadvice.blogspot.com/
Discography
Hot and Haunted, Early 2011, Moonlight Mile Records
Hudson City Summer EP, 2008, Moonlight Mile Records
The Rest of Your Nights, 2007, Moonlight Mile Records
Photos
Bio
WJ & the Sweet Sacrifice are future primitives. They explore ancient knowledge, use pagan rituals, and wreck guitars to invoke the spirits of rock and roll and channel immortality.
In 2006, the Jersey City music scene was in ruins. Gentrification had taken away the gritty metropolis’s saving grace, the legendary indie-rock and punk enclave that was Uncle Joe’s Pub. WJSS arose from the ashes of that hallowed ground, releasing a locally acclaimed first record at the esteemed CMJ Music Marathon, THE REST OF YOUR NIGHTS, on the small Hoboken imprint, Moonlight Mile Records.
The years that followed were tumultuous. The band hit the road hard and hit the sauce harder. They lost and gained members, released a few EPs and live records, and emerged on the better side of 2010 more magical then ever. The band is now comprised of the hard-hitting Thomas Barrett on drums, Erin Maiden on guitars and keys, Mike Moebius on bass, WJ on singing and guitars, and Lysa Opfer doing everything she can, whenever she can.
Their punk-inspired rock sound has been compared to Mudhoney, Black Sabbath, Supersuckers and Whiskeytown. Live, WJSS has actually and physically exorcised demons and cured ailments. And they always have fun doing it.
The band is currently finishing up their second full length record at Moonlight Mile Studios and gearing up to hit the road Spring 2011, bringing rock and roll salvation to the lucky few who get to listen.
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