The Art of Telling Lies

Vains of Jenna is one of the precious few bands who have found a way to take that 80s vibe we loved 20 years ago and fuse it with just enough of a modern touch that it manages to sound both new and familiar without sounding trendy or dated. More than that though, they have good songs. Some really good songs, in fact. Part of that might be that the album was produced by the guitarist (and main songwriter) from the classic metal band Wildside. I don't know how influential he was in the writing and arrangement, but he is credited (along with the four members of the band) on all of the tracks (except the Tom Petty cover, Refugee), so I'm guessing he had some impact on the final product. The songs are very riff-oriented, with the guitarist showing some strong Slash influences. The vocals are a distinctive scratchy whine, reminiscent of Stephen Pearcy or Jizzy Pearl, but still unique and very fitting for the music. The album is well put together with a solid group of up-beat opening tracks, including the previously mentioned, familiar, but rocked-up, cover song, before finally slowing down at track five for a monster power ballad in Paper Heart. The cd continues on in fine form finishing up with the impressive title track as a strong closer. Despite heavy competition throughout the cd, their signature song has got to be the immensely catchy Enemy in Me, which had been released earlier on the “Viva La Bands – II” soundtrack and featured on both MTV's Jackass 24 & LA INK. It's a great song and by itself worth the cost of the disc, but in this case, you'll want the whole album. Vains of Jenna rocks. --Scott