Check out this awesome write-up on the Evangenitals from the Orphan Records site!

Check out this awesome write-up on the Evangenitals from the Orphan Records site!

The Evangenitals - What Every Mega Church Is Missing

[contributed by K. Nacy]

Have you ever entertained impure thoughts and desires? Have you found that your illicit highs keep getting lower? Have you ever touched yourself or wished someone else would? Do you need to be saved?? If you've answered "yes" to any of the preceding questions, the Evangenitals are your VIP + 1 drink pass to salvation!

This five-piece alt/country/neo/folk outfit from Los Angeles initially formed in 2004 as something of a private joke, when a crappy day at the office for Juli Crockett, Brett Lyda and Lisa Dee might have meant a nationwide recall on nipple clamps. The three founding members of the Evangenitals met while working together at a sex toy company and registered their band domain name before there ever was a band. However, as songs were written and performed, fans accumulated, and their popularity spread throughout the Los Angeles area.

Their 2005 debut, "We are the Evangenitals," features a well-balanced blend of barnyard stomp and ethereal harmonies. Gifted with a powerful voice, Crockett makes her distinctive mark as the anti-crooner. She sings with a deep clarity and is able to maintain odd balance of folky sweetness and country music's signature yee-haw .

On "The Work Song," Crockett sings of the mundane and redundant in a way that somehow manages to be entrancing. At first listen, her vocals call to mind other notable altos like Cher, Grace Slick, and flannel-clad lesbian grunge pop extraordinaire, Linda Perry. Crockett's sound is low, smooth and profound, and even the most diehard of Perry fans is likely to be moved by the pastoral beauty produced on tracks like "Beautiful Boy" and "Lisa's Song".

"Hey Ya" was the persistent pop tune that your grandmother and her ninety-year-old pinnacle partner could discuss over gingersnaps. The song inspired a number of ironic covers from smart-alecky indie bands, and if you went to a $12 show in 2003, you probably heard "Hey Ya" at least once. A testament to their dexterity, the Evangenitals cover the Andre 3000 classic as a slow and haunting folk incantation. It is without question one of the most radiant tracks on "We are the Evangenitals". Eat your heart out, 3000.

Though not entirely unclassifiable, the Evangenitals are versatile and multi-layered, and will likely carry a 'slash' in their genre classification for as long as they exist as a band of Southern Californian country bumpkins. As is customary with folk music, they create traditional sounds for everyday people, which is perhaps their greatest strength. The fact that they can spare you fire and brimstone is simply an added bonus.

The band's sophomore release, "Everlovin", should be available through CD Baby and iTunes shortly…See ya at the next hell raisin'.

The Evangenitals - Website
The Evangenitals - Myspace