Oxford indie pop collective JODY AND THE JERMS release their first new music of 2021: “Get Me Out”.
Released everywhere on 15 February, you can tune in on Soundcloud now:
“Get me out of here, I’m screaming, I need something new…” coos Jody Jeger in her effortlessly cool Sarah Cracknell-meets-Sonya Madan vocal. With traces of melancholy and ennui, Jeger seems to encapsulate the thoughts of an entire nation right now.
A track about small town suburban boredom and the yearning to escape that naturally springs from it, “Get Me Out” was written in November by Jody alongside Jerms lead-guitarist (and husband) Niall. Although emerging at a session in a rehearsal room in St Clements before the latest wave of lockdowns, it couldn’t be more apposite in 2021.
Like adult reflections of a teenage dream, “Ge Me Out” hits like a sugar rush shot from another era. With warm slide guitars woven with web-like intricacy to Jody’s airy vocal, a sense of fond familiarity also radiates from the authentic Hammond organ played by Robert Anwood. Recalling the breezy, sweet-natured indie of Belle & Sebastian or The Field Mice crossed with the power-pop punch of Sleeper or The Darling Buds, at just under the three-minute mark, it’s as endearingly shy as it is feverishly addictive.
Mastered at Fluid audio, “Get Me Out” was recorded by Stuart Jones at Woodworm Studio near Banbury (the studio previously owned by Fairport Convention).
Jody And The Jerms are a sextet from Oxford, formed in 2019. Founded by former members of The Anydays (who notably supported Radiohead and Supergrass in the 90s), the band are fronted by the singular Jody, who remarkably until last year had never sung in front of anyone. Finding her calling and an instant chemistry with the vintage-flecked indie of the Jerms, within a matter of weeks of their formation, grand plans of original material and tours soon began to form with a natural ease. “Jody had never sung before but I roped her into trying a song in the studio on the premise that I would do it if she didn’t” jokes Niall, “fortunately for everyone’s ears it worked out.”
Playing just one gig before the pandemic took hold, lockdown may have quickly scuppered Jody and the Jerms’ touring plans, but it would ultimately prove to be a major catalyst in accelerating their studio dreams.
Using the time to record a full album’s worth of tracks and secure a vinyl distribution deal, the band pressed on to release their warmly received debut album ‘Deeper’ in September. Against the odds, its singles like “It’s All Up To You” and “Deeper” won over fans at key radio outlets like BBC Introducing, Radio X, BBC Ulster, RTE and Sirius XM, plus earned the band a number of favourable reviews across the UK, with XS Noize hailing their “seemingly effortlessness melodies and choruses which embed themselves in your head for days”. The Jerms even proved to be a surprise hit with a Spanish audience, earning support from various national media and the wider public there.
