Obscure music: The Julies

By mediamugshot

I sometimes wonder if people in bands that have long since broken up, their music pretty much out of print, if they ever troll the Internet to see if their music is “out there,” you know; waiting to be downloaded … and if they can’t find themselves, how do you think that makes them feel?

Which brings me to today’s obscure music entry: The Julies, who in 1998 released the ep “Lovelife.” Oh, sure, you can listen to their music and read their description on myspace OR, you can go to this website and see the same description and a broken link to an mp3. But, alas … no downloads.

Which is kind of a shame, because the album is pretty solid. I picked this up for one reason when this was released. It was produced and engineered by one William Campbell, who fronted an outstanding and largely unknown band (at least to my circle of friends), The Throes. (I must get around to writing about them sometime …)

PLUS, this album has one of the cutest retro-70s cover illustrations ever. And you can quote me on that.

Anyway, that’s The Julies. Anyone remember this band? Let me know …

The Julies, Lovelife
1998 Flying Tart Records
ISBN: 7-51416-52432-0
Track Listing:

  1. Drive Me Mad
  2. Wake Up, Christine
  3. Boy Winder
  4. Blue
  5. Love Scene Seventeen
  6. Friday and Faithless

    7. CD Cover

    CD Insert/Back of Cover (click for larger, possibly readable notes)

    Back of CD Jewel Case

    And, finally, the CD itself (ain’t it cute?)

10 thoughts on “Obscure music: The Julies”

  1. I knew these guys back in college and I still love this album. It puts me in mind of the music I still love best. Chris, the lead singer, is still making music on different fronts.

    • Cool! Thanks for reading. There’s such an earnest innocence to this album, it’s hard not to like. What kind of music fronts are there?

  2. Chris is now writing songs with Ian Mcglynn and All-Star United among others. He and Ian just had a song used in a Heinekin commercial.

  3. I was so glad I was able to order this album just now. I loved the album when it first came out, but I had it on tape. . . to play on a portable tape player in my VW bus. Every time I think of The Julies, I think of the time I got a speeding ticket while listening to them to keep myself awake on the way home from a TMBG show.

    I agree about the earnest innocence of the album and that it’s hard not to like.

  5. I picked up their Lovelife cassette when it came out. It was for the name and the artwork. From middle school through high school graduation I played it frequently until it was misplaced while moving house. Luckily I was able to find a copy on CD a few years ago. The band actually released two more studio records (Discovery and January) and a live recording. Their music is beautiful and it is equally difficult to locate.

    • I was the drummer in The Julies! A friend posted a “favorite bands” challlenge on fb today and The Julies entered the conversation. A quick web search brought me here. I am so glad to hear that our quirky, earnest songs found a place in your hearts! My favorite thing about music is how it places you in time and space such as “a speeding ticket late one night…”.

      I still have a few t-shirts and CDs lying around that have made a few moves with me. I keep meaning to box 5-10 of them and send them to the bandmates as a Christmas present. Maybe this will me the year.

      I worked in the digital music business for 10 years and am still in tech in Seattle. Chris (singer) is a creative director for an ad agency in NYC, John (bass) works for the NJ state government helping people, Patrick (guitar) works in healthcare in Philly (I think), amd Alex (guitar) works for a web development firm in the Lancaster area.

      All the best!

      Greg

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