They brew up a weird brand of musician in Ruston, La. The Elephant 6 Collective--which includes the amazingly amazing Neutral Milk Hotel, the merely amazing Olivia Tremor Control, and the darn-good-on-a-good-night Apples in Stereo---all came barrelling out of Ruston a few years back with their horns, guitars, and singing saws in tow. Though not quite as eccentric as any of these previously mentioned bands, the Juan Prophet Organization could hardly be from anywhere other than Ruston. Whereas Elephant 6 all seem to be influenced by a combination of folk and 60's psychedelia, the JPO are clearly more interested in jazz and r&b...and the Fugs and Sebadoh, and just about everything that Elephant 6 left out of their musical repertoire.
To tell it like it is, JPO's jazzy Beefheart-ish instrumentals slouch in the general direction of fusion lameness, but when they let their r&b side take over on "Comeback Baby", a so-sexy gem of slow-jam that sounds like a collaboration between the Silver Jews, and Barry White, way cool things begin to happen. Speaking of the Silver Jews, JPO's eerie violin-driven polka "Phoneline (to Heaven)" is about the best indie rock Jesus song since Starlight Walker's "Rebel Jew." Their Fugs-inspired chant "Application Process" is a wonderfully weird mantra for all of the sub-working-class dogs who can't resist a line like, "We'll get real jobs, but we'll get fired---again."