Arbor Vitae

Personnel: Lance Hahn (vocals, guitar, keyboards, hand claps); Julie (vocals); Reed Burgoyne (drums, hand claps); Gardner Fusuhara (hand claps).
Audio Mixer: Frankie Stubbs.
Recording information: Bunker, England; The Bunker, England.
Editor: Jeffrey Lesser .
How does J-Church continue on to crank out album after album in between releasing a boatload of singles and manage to keep the music fresh and exciting? Maybe it's the continual change in drummers or that founding members Lance (guitar/vocals) and Gardner (bass/vocals) know how to bounce off of each other's creativity -- they have been writing music together since their Cringer days in 1985. But in the case of their fourth album, Arbor Vitae was recorded and produced by Frankie Stubbs (of Leatherface fame) who created this production style, making this album crystal. With that and some beautiful backing vocals courtesy of Julie, who can normally be found fronting Eggplant and occasionally Wat Tyler, Arbor Vitae redefines J-Church's style of innovative, laid-back pop-punk with the help of keyboards and an acoustical number. They even pull off a song that has authentic handclapping, keeping the beat without scoring high on the cheese factor. ~ Mike DaRonco