Jale was a Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band from Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. Contemporaries of Sloan and

The Super Friendz The Super Friendz are a Canadian indie rock band from Halifax, Nova Scotia. They were initially active between 1994 and 1997, before reforming in 2002, with sporadic activity since then. Contemporaries of Sloan, their early work was on Sloan's ...

, they formed in 1992 and was part of the Halifax Pop Explosion scene in the 1990s. They released three records as a band (the albums ''

Dreamcake ''Dreamcake'' is the first album by the Halifax, Nova Scotia, band Jale. It was released in 1994 on Sub Pop Records. The only Jale album with the singer-songwriter-drummer Alyson McLeod, the songs on ''Dreamcake'' are considered edgier and more ...

'' and '' So Wound'' and the EP ''Closed'') before disbanding in 1996.

Career

Jale was formed by four art school students in 1992. The guitaris
Jennifer Pierce
had earlier sung backing vocals on the album '' Smeared'' by Sloan. The other founders were Alyson MacLeod (drums), Laura Stein (bass guitar) and Eve Hartling (guitar). The band's name was formed from the first letters of the members' first names. Jale was one of the first two Canadian bands (with Eric's Trip) to be signed to Seattle record label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

, at a time when the music industry turned their attention to the East Coast following the success of Seattle's

grunge music Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and Olympia, and other nearby cities. Grunge fuses elements of pun ...

. Their debut album, ''

'', was released by Sub Pop in 1994. Two music videos were made, "Promise (Jimmybeam Majestic Version)", directed by Tyran George, and "Not Happy". In the summer of 1995, the band released the ''Closed'' EP on local label

Murderecords Murderecords is an independent record label that releases the music of the Canadian rock band Sloan. Originally formed in 1992 to produce just the records of that band, it later released work of other bands including Eric's Trip, The Hardship ...

Music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

were released for the songs "Double Edge", and "Jesus Loves Me". The EP would be the last record featuring drummer Alyson MacLeod, who left Jale to join

The Hardship Post The Hardship Post was a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in St. John’s, Newfoundland in 1992. The band moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the Halifax Pop Explosion of the early 1990s. The band originally consisted of vocalist and ...

. Mike Belitsky of the

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

band

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas Good, a founding member, died in 2022. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret a ...

replaced MacLeod as drummer. In November 1995, Jale regrouped to record their second and final album, '' So Wound'', in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The band released a music video for the single "All Ready". ''So Wound'' was a consciously more power pop album than ''Dreamcake'' and received critical praise. However, Sub Pop pulled support for the album while the band was on tour. Only a few months after the release of ''So Wound'', Jale disbanded.

Discography

Albums and EPs

* ''

'' (1994) * ''Closed'' EP (1995) * '' So Wound'' (1996)

Singles

* "Aunt Betty" (7", Single) (1992) * "Gold Leather With Heel Detail" (7", Single) (1993) * "Cut" (7", Single) (1993) * "Sort of Grey" (7", Single) (1993) * "14 08 93" (7", Cass/CD, Single) (1994) * ''

Edgefest Edgefest was an annual outdoor rock festival in Canada. It was founded by staff members of Toronto radio station CFNY-FM. From 1987 to 2015, the festival was held every year in the summer (except for 2007). The festival was most frequently held ...

Murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

'' EP (7", Promo) (1994) * "All Ready / Hey Hey" (7"/CD, Single) (1996) * "True What You Say" (7", Single) (1997)

Videos

* "Promise" - ''Sub Pop Video Network Program 3'' (VHS, 1995)

Post Jale

Pierce, Stein and Belitsky continued as The Vees. They toured Canada twice and released an EP, ''The Vees'', on the Halifax label Murderecords in 1997. The band stopped performing the following year. Pierce, Stein and Belitsky resurfaced in 2000 as Chappaquiddick Skyline, a side project of the

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

-based Pernice Brothers, and released an album, Chappaquiddick Skyline. Stein and Belitsky later appeared on the Pernice Brothers' albums ''The World Won't End'' (2001) and ''Yours, Mine and Ours'' (2003). Stein and Pierce are also listed as vocalists on ''Who Will You Believe'' (2024). All members of the band worked on photography and graphic design of posters, album artwork and art direction for music videos. Hartling was nominated for a Juno award in 1997 for her design of ''So Wound''. She continued to paint, and after exhibiting her work in group shows in Halifax over several years, had her first solo show in 2005. Hartling lives and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Stein went on to become a graphic designer, first in New York City, balancing design and touring as keyboardist with Pernice Brothers. She later joined

Sid Lee Sid Lee is an international creative services firm founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It operates offices in Toronto, New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Paris. The agency offers services in the fields of branding, digital and social mark ...

, a

creative services Creative services are a subsector of the creative industries, a part of the economy that creates wealth by offering creativity for hire to other businesses. Creative Services also means a department within a company that does creative work such a ...

firm, at their Toronto office. She is now CCO at Bruce Mau Design in Toronto. In December 2024, Pierce released a six song EP, ''Unsuitable,'' as Jenny & the Tide. Released on Bandcamp, the EP showcases the exceptional talent of a group of Haligonian musicians.

References

External links

Jale on Sub Pop website
{{Authority control Canadian indie pop groups Canadian all-female bands Sub Pop artists Musical groups from Halifax, Nova Scotia Musical groups established in 1993 Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 1997 1993 establishments in Nova Scotia 1997 disestablishments in Nova Scotia