Weird name for a band, won't you agree? Well, lemme elucidate.
That “The Lee Lewis Harlots” part should certainly not be taken too literally. In fact, as far as I know there's no one by the name of Lee Lewis in the band, nor is there anyone by that name connected to it. So, what “The Lee Lewis Harlots” are, no more but certainly no less, is the backing group for Munly...also known as Munly Munly, known as the member of Slim Cessna's Auto Club (where he's singer/ co-songwriter, and guitar/ banjo player), his actual name being Jay Munly. He played a significant role in the development of the “Denver Sound”, music which mixes elements of Country, Gothic, Folk, and Gospel and, prior to releasing this self-titled album on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label in 2004, released several solo albums (1996's Blurry, 1997's Munly de Dar He, and 1999's Galvanized Yankee were originally released through What Are Records? and all got a re-issue in 2006 through Smooch Records; whom also issued 2002's Jimmy Carter Syndrome) in collaboration with several artists known in their own right, such as musicians of Slim Cessna's Auto Club, Devotchka, and future members of Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots.
So...no new album, but a re-issue on double vinyl, and why should anyone be interested in an album almost 10 years old? Well, it's actually quite an interesting album, really, and those having missed out on it the first time around are strongly advised to take notice this time! What's so special about it? Well, it's got no less than 15 tracks, for a total length just over 77 minutes worth of music, which from the description above is a perfect example of that “Denver Sound”. Gloomy and sometimes very dark lyrical topics (which represent the Gothic part quite well, and are occasionally, in part, brought in spoken word style) are presented in a somewhat narrative way and embellished with a musical style which uses acoustic Folk/ Country as a basis, into which Gospel elements are occasionally thrown. No electric guitar, I hear you wonder. Nope...but with the intensities of the instruments used (Munly himself taking care of the acoustic guitar and/ or banjo; bass being played by one Paul Bradley, drums by Jeff Linsenmaier, and a female string section comprised of violinists Elin Palmer and Frieda Stalheim, and cellist Rebacca Vera – one of whom at least also contributes to backing vocals, by the way, as do the dudes, for certain). Oh, for sure, there's calmer tracks too, and in those the absence of an electric guitar is but too clear. If I seem to focus on that element of this band's music, keep in mind that the site was originally founded as a means to promote Rock and Metal music, as well as Punk & Hardcore. That we hàve been fondling into Folk and affiliated sorts of music, is only due to our editor-in-chief's taste in music finally broadening somewhat with age, and yours truly being of such an eclectic taste, that I actually had several albums in the genre prior to the website getting into it as well. Which doens't mean that I still don't have a lot to learn, you know!
So, I'm actually glad this re-issue came about, and thanks to modern promotional means, we got a digital download to suffer/ enjoy (ooh, I'm nasty there, because I actually like this album...now that I've given it several listening sessions, that is, because at first...), and I found it somewhat of a surprise to find only one track off the album available full-length on the Internet (as you may know by now, because I refer to it often enough, your trusted online sales websites – which carry the album – will usually provide 30-second samples of all album tracks), so check out the track “Goose Walking Over My Grave” at Soundcloud, and for additional samples, consult the likes of Amazon, iTunes, etc... For info on Munly and his projects, consult (www.) munlymunly.com, or Jay's page on Wikipedia.