Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
…It began last Thursday at House of Blues where Welsh rockers Stereophonics were performing with support from homegrown talent Plain Jane Automobile. It had been quite some time since I had seen Plain Jane Automobile play and only had a vague impression of mediocrity in my memory. Well, something dramatic happened during that gap of time. The band that I recalled as being largely indistinct apparently found its identity. With large Brit-influenced melodies, their sound demonstrated a newfound stride and greater artistic definition than I've ever seen in them before. Though this aesthetic isn't exactly bakery-fresh, they showed enough quality in their craft during this performance to suggest that this car may just now be revving up. - Orlando Sentinel – City Beat
August 2003
By Aimee LeCours
Individually, each band member has his own personality, persona, and daily life. But, when the guys from Plain Jane Automobile step on the stage, they create a communal presence that is strikingly unique, yet comfortable and inviting. The five members come together from very diverse walks of life, but combined with a collective focus. "We just want to be able to make music our way, and be rewarded for it," says lead singer Duke Crider.
With all the line up changes, the Janes were somewhat of an unadorned presence in Orlando’s music scene. But, with their resent release of a three-song demo, airplay on 104.1 and 101.1 and opening up for international acts like Seven Mary Three, Phaser, and Supergrass, the boys have been creating a buzz around town. They have also been chatting it up with some well-known record labels and trying to negotiate a full-length album deal. So catch them on their way up the record industry food chain.
- Axis Magizine - Excerpts from
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
With a power pop/punk sound, the three tracks on Plain Jane Automobile pack a lot of energy and emotion into a relatively small space. In this solid effort, the band says more with just three songs than many releases teo or three times the size. We don't know if this little gem of a disc is just a demo or if PJA could only afford to record three songs, but whatever the case, the record is a teaser and definitely leaves the listener wanting to hear more. In our opinion, PJA is one of the best local acts of the genre. We look forward to hearing a full-length album from this largely underated band.
- Connections Magazine
“Part pop, part tech-rock and a lot of heart. Definite influences from U2, ThePolice and Radiohead are apparent when you catch these guys in action. Also apparent are the solid rhythms and lasting melodies.”
- The Orlando Sentinel
Discography
2005 Summer - Upcoming full length release
2003 - Plain Jane Automobile
2000 - Dreaming in Retro
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Plane Jane Automobile emerged as a sort of anomaly out of the mid-90s Orlando scene. Forsaking the post-grunge, bar-friendly fodder that dominated the city at the time they instead focused on crafting textured layers of melodies and soundscapes with driving rhythms reminiscent of the brit-pop that had influenced many of them growing up.
It all started when lead singer, and then bassist, Duke Crider teamed up with longtime band mate Luis Mejia in mid-1998 as a basis for something new. We wanted to create something that represented exactly where we were as artists and never again compromise with anything we produced explains Crider as he took the helm as frontman for the first time. They recruited local players and began to craft a continuation of what they have been influenced by with their stark originality and driving live show. Soon the scene began to take notice. Their long sold-out first CD showcasing the beginnings of what was to come; setting a standard for thoughtful songwriting that was only to be raised by them higher and higher.
After years of perfecting their sound they enlisted ex-Choke member Paul McCorkell to take on the bass duties, and local in-demand drummer Mark Janssen to bring up their sound to the next level. Their steady ascent through the Orlando scene began to pay off with such high-profile spots as being personally selected by local legends Seven Mary Three to perform with them and opening a sold-out show for their heroes Supergrass. More recently they performed with Stereophonics for about 1900 fans at the House of Blues and also OK-GO.
The current incarnation of Plane Jane Automobile is many things. At once driving with the move-your-body anthem Blue Jeans, to the epic sounding Awake. They embody what they live; a reach-out-and-grab-you demand to rock and a reminder of just how everything in a group can fall so perfectly into place. Their latest 3-song EP is being circulated all over the region and begs the arrival of a full length CD due in summer of this year.
by Marcus Smith
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