A “flamboyant grunge” soundtrack to the apocalypse

You might be surprised to find that the easy, cool-toned sound of Dawn of Jayne’s fourth album, Liminal Sister, is here to tell you about neurodivergence, environmental racism, and ghost encounters - but that makes it a soothing, moody reflection of what it’s like to live life while the world burns. 

The band self-describes as “flamboyant grunge,” and the classic rainy-day coffee shop vibe of other earnest, woman-led queer 90s grunge is as apparent in their DNA as the various ways Jayne is having fun elevating it. Jayne features vocals and guitar by Tamara Bruketta, Freddie Wong on guitar, and Josh Wolf on drums, with surprising additional guest elements like trumpet (Talitha Gabrielle), spoken word poetry (Beth May), and organ (Travis Reaves Butterfield). 

A particularly addictive track is “Up 2 U,” with Bruketta’s delicate vocals dancing along a hypnotic beat with tricky rhythm changes that make it a repeatable listen. Other standouts include mournful earworm “Stranger,” the simmering political rage of “Frogtown,” wistful supernatural story “Dehlbom Blues,” and Wong’s epic, Western guitar in fan-favorite “Staring Contest.”
 

Despite the variety in the pieces that make up this album, make no mistake about its cohesion. The combination of themes about introspective, personal struggle combined with more outward-facing observation in the package of an easy listen is what makes it feel like this album was made to put on while you love, lose, and muddle through whatever fresh hell the 2020s have brought to you now. It evokes the feel of an angsty drive through the desert as much as it does a morning of peace in between national crises. Dawn of Jayne understands how painful and beautiful it is to be alive right now and reflects it back to us in Liminal Sister.