Three Track Week #37: From Garage Rock to Soul-Pop
From Garage Rock to Post-Punk and Soulful Pop
This week’s Three Track Week 37 brings together three very different sounds: Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang revisit Joey Ramone with a dose of garage-rock grit, Chicago’s Marital Bed turn relationship troubles into a wall of distorted guitars, and Jenny JAM draws on soul, pop and rock for her debut album about life, loss and starting over. Three different approaches, from noisy guitars to soulful melodies.
Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang – “Spirit In My House”
That opening guitar riff gets straight to the point. The drums come in, Palmyra Delran starts singing and the Halloween mood is pretty much set. The guitars are rough, the rhythm keeps pushing forward, and the chorus has just the right amount of spooky attitude. Nothing fancy, just a good garage-rock song with a bit of a haunted-house feel.
Sound / Mood
The drums really drive this track. The guitars stay loud and rhythmic and the solo is a highlight: full of energy without taking the song somewhere else. Everything fits together nicely and the ending returns to the opening riff. It is the sort of song that works just as well blasting out of a stereo at a Halloween party as it would in a late-night garage-rock playlist. Delran does not overplay the spooky angle. The music takes care of that.
Why This Matters
Palmyra Delran could have picked a better-known Joey Ramone song. Instead, she went for “Spirit In My House”, a track from his solo catalogue that does not get nearly as much attention as the Ramones classics. I have a soft spot for that kind of choice. We tend to remember bands through a few familiar songs, and everything else gets pushed aside. But there is a lot to find beyond the obvious hits, especially when other musicians keep those songs in circulation. Delran first learned “Spirit In My House” for a Joey Ramone birthday celebration. Years later, it has found a new home as a Halloween single. It is a small example of how rock ’n’ roll history actually stays alive: not just through anniversary editions and greatest-hits albums, but through musicians who still want to play these songs.
Context
Delran has been part of the garage-rock and punk scene for decades. She started out with The Friggs, an all-female band that found its audience in the East Coast underground during the 1990s. Her own music mixes garage rock, punk and power pop, a sound she calls “trash-pop”. She later formed the Doppel Gang and released solo records including "You Are What You Absorb" and "Come Spy With Me". She is also a member of The Coolies, alongside musicians from The Pandoras, Blondie and The Go-Go’s, and works as a DJ on SiriusXM’s Underground Garage. The story behind this single is a nice one. Joey Ramone’s brother, Mickey Leigh, invited Delran and the Doppel Gang to perform at one of the celebrations for Joey’s birthday. She decided to learn two of his lesser-known solo songs, “Spirit In My House” and “Mr. Punchy”. Wicked Cool Records eventually suggested releasing the first one around Halloween. It makes sense. “Spirit In My House” is out now via Wicked Cool Records, following the band's April single “Hold Tight”, their take on the 1960s song by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.
🎧 Stream "Spirit In My House” on Apple Music · Follow Palmyra Delran and the Doppel Gang on Instagram
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Marital Bed - “He or She”
At first, “He or She” sounds almost out of control. There are electric guitars, amplifier noise and a voice somewhere in the background, but no clear rhythm to hold on to. Then the drums kick in and things begin to take shape. The vocals remain fragile and distant, while the guitars keep pushing further into the foreground. By the middle of the song, the sound has grown into something massive. The guitars seem to swallow everything around them. Then the drums disappear for a moment, leaving the other sounds hanging in the air before the next verse starts. The ending is loud, distorted and gloriously messy. I love how far the band takes it.
Sound / Mood
The guitars never really stay in one place. They slip behind the vocals, come forward again and eventually take over almost completely. The drums give the song some direction, but there is always a feeling that things could fall apart at any moment. The quieter section in the middle makes a real difference. After all that noise, the sudden drop in energy feels almost strange. And when the band comes back, they go all in. The final stretch is probably my favourite part: just guitars, distortion and a lot of noise, without losing the thread of the song.
Why This Matters
Marital Bed have a pretty dark view of romance. “He or She” is about infidelity and betrayal, but the song doesn't sound like a straightforward breakup story. The voice is hard to grasp, the guitars keep getting in the way, and the whole thing feels increasingly unstable. That sits well with the band's wider interest in marriage and the roles people play in relationships. The idea of a perfect couple is still everywhere, from wedding culture to romantic comedies and pop songs. Real relationships are rarely so tidy, of course, but the messier parts tend to be harder to package into a familiar story. “He or She” doesn't try to make betrayal sound beautiful or turn it into a lesson. It lets the discomfort build until the music becomes almost overwhelming. Sometimes that feels closer to the experience than another song about getting over someone.
Context
Marital Bed formed in Chicago after the members met by chance at a bar. They started working on their sound in the small second-floor apartment of singer and songwriter Charissa Jene Lindquist in the city's Ukrainian Village neighbourhood. The band have been labelled art rock, post-punk and new wave, but they prefer to take whatever a song needs. Their recordings bring together guitars, synths, samples and, on “He or She”, saxophone from David Sean Hernandez. The result can be uneasy and strange without losing its pull. “He or She” is the second single from Marital Bed's self-titled debut album, due December 4, 2026. The first single, “Ghost”, took a different route, twisting the sound of 1960s girl-group pop into something much more unsettling. The new track is the darker of the two. It starts in a haze, builds until the guitars nearly drown everything else out, and finishes in a glorious racket. If this is a preview of the album, I'm curious to hear what else the band have in store.
🎧 Stream "He or She” on Apple Music · Follow Marital Bed on Instagram
Jenny JAM - ”Trains, Planes and Airports”
Some albums take shape over time, in one place, with the same people around them. Jenny JAM’s debut album came together across Los Angeles, Delaware and Birmingham in the UK. The title, "Trains, Planes and Airports", fits a record shaped by life on the move. Its ten songs draw on soul, pop, jazz and classic rock, with stories of heartbreak, family, difficult relationships and finding a way forward.
Sound / Mood
Jenny JAM brings together different musical influences rather than sticking to one lane. Classic soul sits alongside pop, jazz and rock, while her vocal style is described as both powerful and vulnerable. The album moves between more painful subject matter and lighter moments, including the reggae-inflected “Friend Zoned”. Without listening notes for each track, it’s difficult to say exactly how the arrangements work across the full album. But the range of stories alone suggests a record that doesn't stay in one emotional place for long.
Why This Matters
There’s no shortage of songs about getting through hard times. The harder part is making those stories feel personal rather than turning them into another neat message about resilience. Jenny JAM draws directly on her own experiences, including caring for her mother during leukemia treatment, which inspired “Toy Proof”, and surviving abuse, the subject of “Better Than You”. That matters because stories about hardship are often told from the other side, once everything has been overcome and the lesson is clear. Real life is rarely that tidy. Caring for someone who is ill, trying to rebuild your confidence or working out where you stand with another person can take time, and not every day brings a breakthrough. Jenny says that even when a story is dark, she looks for a positive turn. That outlook runs through the album’s mix of heartbreak, healing and hope. It doesn’t mean the difficult parts disappear; it means they become part of a bigger story, rather than the whole story.
Context
Born in London and now based in Los Angeles, Jenny JAM came to music through a background that includes musical theater, acting and film production. Her debut album was recorded across three locations and features producers Herb Middleton, Ikuma Matsuda and 5am. Middleton’s previous work includes collaborations with Mary J. Blige and Al Green. Several of Jenny’s earlier releases have already reached audiences beyond the usual independent music channels. “Prove Who” was recorded using Frank Sinatra’s microphone at Capitol Records, appeared in the British film "Bermondsey Tales" and was featured on a billboard in Times Square. “Better Than You”, her song about surviving abuse and reclaiming personal power, reached No. 33 on the US Mediabase charts. The album brings these different parts of her life and career together. Its songs come from specific moments and places, but the experiences behind them - grief, love, disappointment and starting again - aren’t tied to one city or one stage of life.
🎧 Stream "Trains, Planes and Airports” on Apple Music · Follow Jenny JAM on Instagram
There’s no big connection between these three beyond the fact that they all come at music from their own direction. And maybe that’s enough. Sometimes you want guitars that sound like they’re about to fall apart, sometimes you want a bit of noise and sometimes you need a song that gives you a little hope. We all have different reasons for putting music on. The good thing is that there’s always something out there for whatever kind of day you’re having.
Further perspectives are available in our Artist Features, Cultural Essays and On This Track, each situating music within broader cultural and structural contexts.
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