J Church - The Precession Of Simulacra • The Map Preceeds The Territory

I kinda miss the days when I knew all the punk rock inside baseball bullshit: who'd signed who, who got dropped, etc., etc. I loved being a smart mark about the behind the scenes moving and shaking. I get reminders now of far my finger is from the pulse of things. For example: did YOU know Epitaph now owns the Jade Tree back catalog? I did not; now I do. I suppose that's why you've been able to get all those pretty-looking reissues recently.

And why mention this? Well, Jade Tree was the big label up the interstate that put out records like the one you're about to listen to. This J Church 10" was my first exposure to the label, as well as my first exposure to one of the all-time great pop-punk trios. Lance Hahn had the brain of an anarchist, the heart of a romantic, and the pipes of a barroom belter. They were such an incredible singles band; their throwaway B-sides and comp tracks are better than most other bands' Side 1, Track 1's. This came out the same year as "Hello Bastards", the first Damnation A.D. LP, and the only Walleye 12". Bands from Dillinger 4 to Joyce Manor and Dogleg owe J Church a debt of influence for making smart, adult pop punk. I feel like, had Lance not died in 2007, they still would have been playing out, probably trekking out to Gainesville for the Fest once every few years and showing the kids how its done.

I thought of this because: 1) I've been listening to that new Dogleg record a lot, and there's much about it that reminds me of J Church, and 2) John Yates did the cover design for this. I've been following him closely on Instagram, and it reminded me of this 25 year old slab o' wax, which still sounds super fresh to me.

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