Private Plane (Official Music Video)

Not Enough (Official Video)

Dark Harmony (Official Music Video)

Sick of Love (Bedroom Remix)

Flipped Switch (LIVE)

Glory Daze (Live Acoustic)

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Reviews

“Private Plane” is a new addition to their catalog, honoring the band’s signature roots while embracing their musical evolution. The track pops into existence as drummer [Adam Sharp] sharply hits the snare with a one-two punch followed by a slightly distorted mid-tempo rhythm guitar. The production feels authentic, capturing the raw, overdriven character of the amplifiers just enough to give the song its necessary edge. The string bending chords of the backing guitars stand out along with leads adding texture to the song. The bass carries the track further, adding full flavor and depth. The arrangement allows Jolie Cota Flink to standout with her soothing laid-back vocal delivery, while backing vocals lend the song a distinct 60s doo-wop vibe. The song expresses an open feeling as if cruising on air. It should make fans excited for their next studio album Play Nice! set to be released this Fall.

"Not Enough" opens the album as Flink reveals, "I have done nothing wrong but I feel so ashamed/ I'm left unsatisfied now, my desire's to blame," her sugarcoated vocals throughout often betraying point-blank lyricism and emotional nudity. Outwardly grappling with self-worth, lost connections, and the bad choices we continue to make into whatever nebulous kind of adulthood this town grants us, Flink's rigid lyrical content is given levity by the quintet's well-informed pop hooks, an audible crate-digging adventure pulling in like-minded threads from Nikki Corvette, Holly Beth Vincent, and Kim Deal. - The Austin Chronicle

While previously Mean Jolene’s output was characterised by, in their own words, “empowered femininity and devil-may-care attitudes”, for their second record the band have taken a more vulnerable approach, without losing any of their rambunctious qualities. Glory Daze does just that, as the lyrics chart discovering the person you need, even if you are surprised who that turned out to be, “I get in trouble when I feel I don’t belong who knew that you would be the cure all along”. Musically, the track plays out on fizzing guitar solos and euphoric driving rhythms, as Jolie Cota Flink’s vocals drift in and out of musical focus.

Booking: joleneismean@gmail.com

For the past decade, Mean Jolene has been a fixture in the Austin indie rock scene, crafting a distinctive brand of power-pop that balances lush vocal harmonies and infectious guitar hooks with raw examinations of trauma, mental illness, recovery, love, and survival. Led by songwriter and vocalist Jolie Flink, alongside rhythm guitarist Ali Ditto, bassist Maud Morgan, lead guitarist Jen Brown, and drummer Philip Dunne, the band draws from power-pop revivalism, golden-era rock and roll, early indie rock, and post-grunge to create a sound that feels both nostalgic and modern. Influences ranging from The Shangri-Las, Nikki and the Corvettes, The Primitives, Letters to Cleo, Shonen Knife, and The Breeders can be heard throughout the band's songwriting and delivery.

In the summer of 2015, after a turbulent period involving health issues and breakups, Jolie started writing songs that eventually became Mean Jolene's 10-song debut LP, Salty. The album expresses themes of extreme highs and lows and, on the surface, could be considered a diss album, laced with bitterness and tongue-in-cheek snottiness. At its core, however, it is also a sincere album about self-acceptance. The band's sophomore album, Try Harder, featured songs that were more expansive, ambitious, and mature than previous efforts. Mean Jolene leaned further into melodic, towering power-pop, with roaring guitar riffs, layered vocal harmonies, and dynamic arrangements that brought the band's influences into sharper focus. Across its first two albums, Mean Jolene developed an aesthetic rooted in empowered femininity and devil-may-care attitudes, pairing point-blank lyrics with upbeat, energetic pop music.

Their forthcoming third album, Play Nice, marks a transition that trades some of their signature protective wit for deeper vulnerability as Flink chronicles her journey through sobriety and womanhood. The album explores grief and healing, self-destruction and perseverance, heartache and love, as well as bodily autonomy and the loss of innocence. Songs such as "Private Plane" and "Sobriety" wrestle with the fantasy of escape, while "Dead to Me" and "Last Place" confront the grief that follows when people, institutions, and ideals fall short of their promise. "Waltz Song" reflects on reclaiming agency in the aftermath of trauma, while "On A Good Day" celebrates unconditional love, gratitude, and the quiet acts of care that make healing possible. Moving between soaring anthemic choruses and more intimate, delicate verses, Play Nice showcases how the band works together to embody the emotional weight of each song, channeling layered harmonies, textured guitars, and dynamic arrangements into a cathartic delivery of Mean Jolene's unique brand of indie pop-rock.