JVK’s New EP Will Have You Saying Hello Again and Again
By Nat Szczepanski
JVK’s frontwoman Jo “JVK” Krieger (she/her) “went around and basically put up a bunch of flyers” when shows started coming back, in an effort to assemble a whole band — going so far as to sneak into Berklee College of Music to find members for her project. Her sudden realization of “wait, why don’t I take this [project] seriously?” was the primary driving force behind her actions. It was one that would result in one of the most exciting acts currently performing in Boston’s alternative music scene. The band JVK is now coming into its own: a new EP release, multiple shows spanning the Northeast, and the potential to play at Summer Sad Fest 2022.
The first time I saw JVK perform was in April and since then have become familiar with more and more of their original songs. Jo described the evolution of JVK’s material up to the release of their latest EP Hello, Again: “These songs have been in the making since late 2020 and were recorded at the same time as our other songs ‘Bye Bye’ and ‘My Own Man’,which were released literally in the beginning of 2021.” The frontwoman emphasized that the timing just didn’t feel right; rather, she wanted the space to perfect the material. Allowing for more time between recording and release meant the opportunity to add other members and new ideas to the project. The inclusion of Donny Defala (he/him, guitar), Alex Oslakovic (he/him, guitar), Alix Breda (she/they, bass), and Troy Welling (he/him, drums) signaled an even greater emphasis on cutting hard rock riffs.
Hello, Again is JVK’s first substantial release to date and it’s full of gems. Out of the gate listeners are greeted by fuzzy guitars and Jo’s immensely powerful voice — her velvety contralto is unmatched in a genre that typically lacks women. “In terms of ‘a societal standpoint’, it’s interesting to see a woman-fronted band doing really hard rock, almost borderline metal [music],” Jo said. The closest act that I could compare JVK to would have to be The Pretty Reckless, another band that features a woman as lead singer, but even then the Boston group implements some rhythmic elements of punk that appear to be absent within others of this genre. My personal favorite track off JVK’s EP is Deja Vu. I can just imagine the killer pit that would open up when either Donny or Alex break out in a solo. It’s fast-paced and an absolute headbanger. The stage presence that JVK wields is captivating — throngs of people are under their spell and interactions between the two entities are insane. During one of their newer songs, “I’m Your Jesus,” Jo loves to get the crowd on their knees during a build up: “I go on my knees and whisper ‘I’m your Jesus’ over and over and then all of a sudden I stand up while everyone is still crouched and scream that phrase. Then they start moshing. Lately that’s been my favorite to play.”
JVK has been busy these past couple of months playing numerous local shows and campaigning to perform at Sad Summer Fest. The winner of the festival’s battle of the bands, a voting based competition, gets to perform on the festival’s main stage on a date of their choice. JVK has officially made it to the second round of voting: “I wasn’t even expecting that like honestly. The fact that we even made it past the first round — like damn.” The top 25 bands, which JVK is close to being, move on to the third round. Regardless of the competition, their upcoming plans include multiple out of state shows that will soon be announced via their Instagram page.
If you plan to take the time to dip your toes into the Boston alternative scene, or happen to see that they’re playing at a venue near you, then there’s no doubt that the band JVK should be on your radar.