Tenni met Jessicka while attending Piper High School in Sunrise, Florida. They had begun writing songs, but had not yet formed a band when Moulder and Inhell joined them to create the band that would become Jack Off Jill. Jack Off Jill's first show was opening for fellow Floridian and long time friend Marilyn Manson and his shock-rock outfit, Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids, at a Davie, Florida night club called The Plus Five Lounge. The female foursome quickly became one of the most exciting and controversial underground bands during their heyday. Surname-free singer, Jessicka delivered gut-wrenching lyrics in an angelic to banshee-like voice and performed shocking on-stage antics that included stripping young men on stage while the band and crowd taunted the exposed fans, as well as covering the audience with spit and real blood and candy. Jessicka even spent a night in jail when she and Manson were arrested after a 1994 concert in Jacksonville, Florida, after being accused by the town's Christian Coalition for breaking the town's adult entertainment codes. [4] Though the members of Jack Off Jill never claimed to be shock rockers, they were often labeled as such. In fact, Jack Off Jill had more in common musically with riot grrrl acts such as Bikini Kill and Babes in Toyland than they did with Marilyn Manson and the Spooky Kids, with whom Jack Off Jill would later be constantly compared. It did not help that after a four year relationship, then boyfriend Twiggy Ramirez, began to mimic Jessicka's dress and appearance, making critics' comparisons draw even closer.[5]
Jack Off Jill released several independent records: "Children 5 and Up", "The Boygrinder Sessions", "Cannibal Song Book", (produced by JOJ and Manson) "Cockroach Waltz", and several 7" singles. It was not until, April 8, 1994, when JOJ played a benefit show for Rock Against Domestic Violence with Babes in Toyland and 7 Year Bitch, the same day lead-singer of American grunge rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, was found dead in his Seattle home, that Jack Off Jill caught the eye of record labels. Drummer Lori Barbero from Babes wanted to sign them to her now defunct Minneapolis label Spanish Fly, but it was not to be. Jack Off Jill then caught the eyes and ears of Los Angeles based Risk Records, who signed them in January 1997. They replaced both Ah Cha Cha and Inhell with new members because the two were not ready to leave Florida. The band released their first national 7" "Girl Scout"/"American Made" in March of 1997. On September 9 1997, their first full-length Sexless Demons And Scars (produced by Gumball's leader Don Fleming, who produced Hole's Pretty on the Inside) was released..
After moderate underground success, touring with Lords of Acid, and playing to sold-out crowds in 1997, Jack Off Jill headed to Los Angeles in order to complete 1998's Covetous Creature, a remix EP of songs from Sexless Demons and Scars with the help of SMP (Scott Putesky), a founding member of Marilyn Manson and new drummer Claudia Rossi.[6] The new manifestation of Jack Off Jill hit the road on a national tour with Psychotica, joined along the way by Switchblade Symphony.
The band road-tested new songs in March of 1999 when JOJ were asked to take the opening slot on the Marilyn Manson / Monster Magnet / Hole tour after Hole departed.[3] With Putesky no longer in the guitar position, JOJ enlisted the help of Jessicka's then-boyfriend guitarist Clint Walsh, original JOJ guitarist Michelle Inhell (Oliver), and drummer Norm Block (formerly of Plexi) for the tour. On July 17, 2000, JOJ released their second full-length CD, Clear Hearts Grey Flowers on Risk Records, that featured a cover by artist Mark Ryden and was produced by Chris Vrenna of Tweaker and Nine Inch Nails. The new album was different from the first having a more Gothic rock sound and a cover of the Cure's "Lovesong" was added as a hidden track. Due to pressure, poor publicity for C.H.G.F, several line up changes, tension between founding members Jessicka and Robin, and management problems, Jack Off Jill played its last show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in April of 2000. They were joined onstage by guitarist Helen Storer of the UK all-girl band Fluffy (and later of Thee Heavenly Music Association) and producer Chris Vrenna on drums. [7] JOJ officially called it quits in late 2000.
Years after their break-up, Jack Off Jill still manage to have a growing online cult following. Reviews for Jessicka's current band Scarling. begin with critics touting JOJ as "riot-goth legends" [8] and refer to Jack Off Jill's final album as," excellent, yet under- appreciated". [9]
In 2015, they reunited for some shows. One was in Ashville, North Carolina on July 18, 2015. They performed their last show was on October 23, 2015 (Jessicka's birthday) in London.
Original Line-up
* Jessicka (Jessicka Fodera) vocals
* Tenni Ah-Cha-Cha (Tenni Arslynian) drums
* Agent Moulder (Robin Moulder) bass, piano
* Michelle Inhell (Michelle Oliver) guitar
Former members
* Lauracet Simpson (Laura Simpson) – drums 1996-1997
* Ho Ho Spade (Jeff Tucci) – guitar 1996-1997
* SMP (Daisy Berkowitz / Scott Putesky) – guitar 1997-1998
* Claudia (Claudia Rossi) – drums 1997-1999
* Clint Walsh – guitar 1999-2000
* Norm Block – live drums 1999-2000
* Hellen Storer (Helen Storer) – live guitar 2000
* Chris Vrenna – live drums 2000
Jessicka is now singing with Scarling
Robin is now writing, recording and creating with TCR
The current musical status of the other members can be found by going to www.jackoffjill.com
American Made
Jack Off Jill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To wash this headache away
Give me a syringe
To inject the pain
Give me something pretty
I hope I'll never be
I'd rather be creepy
Give me a cake
That I can mix and bake
In a Betty Crocker oven
That I will break
Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!
Come on, don't be afraid
We will make you STAB STAB STAB!
My world is evil but American Made
Give me something easy
That I can complicate
Something healthy
That I can infect
Give me a mate
In a crippled state
With Halloween teeth
That I can break
Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!
Come on, don't be afraid
We will make you STAB STAB STAB!
My world is evil but American Made
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with the fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!
Come on, don't be afraid
We will make you STAB STAB STAB!
My world is evil but American Made
American Made
American Grave
In an American Grave
The song "American Made" by Jack Off Jill is a critique of American culture and society, particularly its obsession with consumerism, materialism, and superficiality. The lyrics express a desire to escape this culture and embrace something darker and stranger, rejecting the standard American ideal of happiness and success. The repeated refrain of "Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!" represents this desire for destruction and chaos as a response to a culture that feels empty and meaningless.
The opening verse sets the tone for the rest of the song, with the singer asking for something to alleviate their pain and anxiety. They reject the idea of being "pretty" and instead embrace their own strangeness and creepiness. The second verse continues this theme, with the singer wanting to complicate something simple and infect something healthy, again rejecting the expected norms of American culture.
The bridge of the song features the repeated lines about Momma's apple pie being contaminated with cockroach and burning the flag with a fag, further highlighting the singer's rebellious and subversive attitude towards mainstream American culture. The final line, "American Grave," is a bleak commentary on the state of the country and its future, suggesting that the singer sees little hope for things to improve.
Line by Line Meaning
Give me some antiseptic
To wash this headache away
I need something to help me forget my problems and take away the pain.
Give me a syringe
To inject the pain
I want to numb the pain or escape from reality through drugs.
Give me something pretty
I hope I'll never be
I'd rather be creepy
And very strange
I don't want to conform to society's expectations of how women should look or behave. I embrace my unusual side and don't want to be seen as a pretty, typical girl.
Give me a cake
That I can mix and bake
In a Betty Crocker oven
That I will break
I want to create something, but then destroy it. Perhaps a metaphor for how society builds up people and then tears them down.
Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!
Come on, don't be afraid
We will make you STAB STAB STAB!
My world is evil but American Made
We will destroy anything that is seen as 'normal' or conforming. Our world is one of darkness and chaos, and it's all created by the society we live in.
Give me something easy
That I can complicate
Something healthy
That I can infect
I want to take something simple and make it more interesting or chaotic. I want to take something good and make it bad.
Give me a mate
In a crippled state
With Halloween teeth
That I can break
I want someone vulnerable and weak that I can manipulate and hurt. Someone who is seen as different or unusual.
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with the fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
Momma's apple pie got cockroach in it
Burn the flag with a fag
This repetition highlights our disgust and anger with what society values, patriotism and traditional gender roles. We want to destroy it all.
Bake it up and we will STAB STAB STAB!
Come on, don't be afraid
We will make you STAB STAB STAB!
My world is evil but American Made
We will continue to destroy and create chaos, all while living in a society that encourages us to do so. It's a world where evil is made through American culture and values.
American Made
American Grave
In an American Grave
This final repetition emphasizes the idea that the chaos we create and the destruction we cause is all due to the values and expectations of American society. We are living, and dying, in a world we created ourselves.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind