Traffic Jams: Drive Like Jehu – ‘Golden Brown’

Golden Brown

There are many artists in the world whose music engenders a great deal of goodwill towards your fellow human beings. They make the kind of songs that bring people together and make them smile.

Drive Like Jehu didn’t do any of that. They made abrasive, noisy and complicated rock music that dripped with contempt and which invariably makes me drive like kind of an asshole. “Golden Brown,” the third track of the band’s sole major label debut, 1994’s Yank Crime, is the perfect example of that.

That part about driving like an asshole is appropriate, given that the band takes its name from a bible passage (2 Kings 9:20, to be specific), which reads:

“Again the watchman reported, ‘He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.’”

Drive Like Jehu got its start in sunny San Diego, California, in 1990 with Rick Froberg on vocals and guitar, John Reis on guitar, Mike Kennedy on bass, and after a false start with another drummer, Mark Trombino joined on drums. They released their self-titled debut album in 1991, followed by the now-cult-classic Yank Crime. Members of Drive Like Jehu went on to form a slew of other popular bands like Rocket From The Crypt, Hot Snakes and Obits. Mark Trombino made a name for himself as a popular record producer, working on albums from artists such as Blink 182 and Jimmy Eat World.

Of course, aside from being a generally excellent band, I also have a personal connection to their music. Drive Like Jehu was the reason I started talking to the late, great Davey G. Johnson online, and if it weren’t for Davey and his profoundly weird example, I’d have never gotten into writing about cars as a career.

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