Evil J & Saint Cecilia

Overview

For those who don't feel like braving the hordes of people at Tropfest in the Domain this Sunday, an excellent alternative may be catching Evil J & Saint Cecilia at Low Bar. Their Sydney gig, alongside Griffith Goat Boy, is a warm up in preparation for hitting the road to support Eddie Vedder, the gravelly-voiced troubadour of Pearl Jam fame.

Evil J & Saint Cecilia are an Australian folk-pop outfit based sometimes in the US, with one of the most intriguing and unrevealing artist bios I've yet to read. Written in the form of a poem, it explains that "as girls they had sung together/The songs of olden days/Saint Cecilia from the ocean shallows/Howled with the soul that dwelled in the branches shadows/After centuries of hiding in the forest shade/The Evil J had taken on a plant like form." Make of that what you will.

Their single 'Silver Spoons' has been doing the rounds at FBI Radio of late, and it's definitely worth a listen. Incidentally, the band features Eliza Jane Barnes, and while she's probably sick to death of having it talked about, her dad is Jimmy Barnes. And she's inherited some damn fine vocal chords.