Check out Poison, the launch single from J Mau & The Kiss Off, the new musical project from long-time punk Justin “J Mau” Maurer. The founder of bands like Clorox Girls, Suspect Parts, L.A. Drugz, and Maniac brings that punk sensibility and musical experience to his new, dark, Honky Tonk songs. Musically, Poison has the feel of a classic Spaghetti Western, with shuffling percussion, rhythmic, melodic bass and firmly outlaw electric guitar. Over the top, Maurer delivers a haunting, understated vocal performance. The overall impact is restrained but full of sonic tension.
Directed, shot, and edited by Zache Davis and Marta Ribate Gracia-Davis, the video is grainy and weathered, giving the feel of stepping back in time, into a story or found footage, which suits the murder-ballad narrative.
Following periods living in various places, such as London and Madrid, Maurer was brought low by divorce and found himself in a flat in East Hollywood, absorbing old country records from the likes of Merle Haggard, Gram Parsons, Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt. He finally began to understand this music and says, “Real country music is poetry. It’s about failure, heartbreak, and the tragic human condition. Music to laugh and cry and live and die by.” And this realisation led directly to writing Poison. The song’s slow intensity is reflected in lines like: “When will you see the children play // You never will again,” which came directly from the fact that he could hear the children in the school across the street playing while he was writing; he imagined himself as a protagonist on the run, who saw the school, knowing that he may never do so again.
Maurer’s new band, The Kiss Off, is made up of talented Los Angeles musicians. There’s plenty of chemistry to help this blend of country and punk come to life. Cynthia “Mickie Splits” Herrera of Kontrol Inc. and The Sacred delivers melodic, pulsing bass, combining well with the hypnotic rhythms of drummer Christopher “Crux” Michael of Guantanamo Baywatch and Jairo Gabriel of The Zinfandels on lead guitar. Collectively, Maurer and the band deliver a very promising introduction – one to watch.
