They Have A Howard Johnson's there is the fifth album by New York songwriter Jessi Kilguss whose album has been produced by Charlie Nieland at Saturation Point Studios in Brooklyn with backing by John Kengla, Kirk Schoenherr, Andrea Longato, Rob Heath, Rembert Block and Dave Derby.
The album opens with the title song Howard Johnson's a slow building indie anthem for the power of a town having a Howard Johnsons, which if you don't live in America doesn't mean too much, but from the comfort Jessie finds in the one in Algiers its as comforting as a Comfort Inn is to many brits, along with being lifted from a line in Dog Day Afternoon apparently addressed to her father Howard.
St Teresa In Ecstasy isn't as dark as The Manic Street preachers song about her, this slowly evocatively explains the miraculous events that turned Teresa into a saintly being, she references Sinead O'Connor as being her soundtrack to a visit to Roma on a pilgrimage to feel St Teresa's spirit deep within her being, a transcendent moment in an ancient spiritual place looking at Bernini's magnificent statue.
Fools Fight feels like it has deep resonances in the slowly calibrated guitars and vocals getting to the bottom of the Fools Fight, tripping to Ischia and letting the atmosphere carry you away on a Joni Mitchell style reverie.
Chasing Down A Ghost trying to figure out what part of those memories are real and which are Memorex, the easy going backing slowly draws you in to listen to all the lyrical twists and turns. Lost Causes is a search for a way through without having to give up on anyone for being a lost cause, this is stripped bare emotions and a minimalist backing.
The album closes with a cool cover of Judee Sill's monumental classic Jesus Was A Cross Maker that is stripped to its core lyrics, very minimally strummed guitar keeps the originals haunted edge.
Find out more at https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/album/they-have-a-howard-johnsons-there https://www.jessiekilguss.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Jessiekilgussmusic
