Jelly Bread’s new EP, “Lessons Learned,” packs five songs that showcase the band’s energetic funk and rock soul, while incorporating sounds like dynamic horns and even hints of country. Listening to these smoothly grooving tracks and having had the chance to catch the band’s dance-inducing opening set for G. Love & Special Sauce at the Grand Sierra Resort at the end of March, it’s clear that Jelly Bread is a band to follow.
This EP is the first studio release featuring the current line-up: Cliff Porter on drums and vocals; Dave Berry on guitar, slide guitar, and vocals; Eric Matlock on keys, B3 organ, and vocals; and, as of last December, Dante Orlando on bass and vocals.
“The last Jelly Bread album, me and Cliff were the only ones [of the current group] on it, so this really encapsulates the band now,” Berry said at their rehearsal space in Reno’s Bodega Night Club. “This was the first time that we went into the studio and put all the ideas together right on the spot … And it was the shortest thing we’ve ever done; the last album took us two and a half years to complete.”
The musical evolution that Jelly has audibly gone through since its last album release in 2009, combined with tight instrumentation, warm harmonies, and the noticeable collaborative feel of the new songs, makes Lessons Learned a solid and moving listen. “We’re all really happy with the songs we’ve got; we’ve got everything we need [on this EP],” Matlock said, who has been mixing the final tracks. Berry also chimed in about the meaning behind the name of the release: “All of the songs are about lessons we’ve learned in life, taking the bullshit and learning something from it.”
The enticing draw of this five-song album may stem from the range of musical styles that Jelly Bread delves into, while also maintaining its signature rambling, honest storytelling, and rich, emotion-driven vocals. “We went for an old school vibe on two of the songs, and did some straight-up funk and a rock song,” Porter said.
The band moves between “Home,” featuring Berry’s lap steel guitar twangs as he sings about missing his family while on the road, to the funktastic party anthem “Soundcheckin,” which begs for an audience sing-along, and the truly melt-in-your-ears, dance-as-you-walk “Diggin’ on a Groove” — featuring the key-melting organ playing of Matlock, plus some electrifying talk box vocals — and leaves the listener ready to get down and spread some jelly on that bread at a live show. If the at-home listening experience is this alive, the concert must be…well, if you’ve ever seen them, you know.
Join Jelly Bread to celebrate its new EP at its headlining show at the CBC in May. “We’re looking forward to playing the Crown Room and not opening for anybody,” Berry shared. “And to getting the new music to the people.”
