Juliette and the Licks

Juliette and the Licks

Juliette and the Licks is a rock band from Los Angeles, United States, active from 2003 to 2009. The group is formed by actor and singer Juliette Lewis, who fronts the band on vocals. Its line-up changes over time and includes Patty Schemel on drums, Todd Morse and later Craig Fairbaugh and Kemble Walters on guitar, Paul Ill on bass, and Emilio Cueto, who joins the band permanently in 2007. Other musicians associated with the band include Jason Womack on bass, Ed Davis on drums and Jason Morris on drums between 2004 and 2006.

Career

The band begins after Lewis is inspired by a Blondie concert she attends with Patty Schemel. She starts putting together a group of musicians to support her and Schemel, leading to the first stable version of the band: Lewis, Schemel, Todd Morse and Paul Ill. Lewis describes Morse as a strong punk-rock rhythm guitarist, and calls Ill “Professor Ill” because of his wide range of musical references.

Juliette and the Licks release their first EP, …Like a Bolt of Lightning, in 2004. This is followed by their debut album, You’re Speaking My Language, which features their best-known song of the same name and the single “Got Love to Kill”. The band’s second album, Four on the Floor, follows in late 2006 after they perform at Foo Fighters’ Hyde Park show in front of a large crowd. Dave Grohl fills in when Morse leaves before those album sessions begin, and later invites the band to appear at the Hyde Park event alongside Angels & Airwaves, Queens of the Stone Age and Motörhead.

The band tours in America and across parts of Europe after the release of Four on the Floor. It also opens for Muse and Chris Cornell. In 2007, Kemble Walters leaves to return to his own band, The Rise, and Emilio Cueto joins as his permanent replacement. In 2008, Todd Morse is no longer touring with the group and Craig Fairbaugh steps in.

Later activity and appearances

Juliette and the Licks appear at MTV Brasil’s Video Music Brasil awards in 2007, where they present an award and perform. They also appear at the 2008 MTV Asia Awards in Sydney, where they perform and present at the ceremony. A remix of “Inside the Cage” is used in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV on the Radio Broker station, with Juliette Lewis as the featured DJ.

Style and songs

The group is associated with alternative rock, garage rock, punk rock and rock. Its best-known songs include “You’re Speaking My Language” and “Hot Kiss”, with “Hot Kiss” serving as one of the group’s more successful singles from Four on the Floor. The band also releases “Sticky Honey” as a later single from that album.