Love Jones

Love Jones is an American band from Louisville, Kentucky formed in 1990 and consists of Ben Daughtrey (vocals, percussion), Barry Thomas (bass), Chris Hawpe (vocals, guitar), Jonathan Palmer (vocals), and Stuart Johnson (drums).Love Jones was prominent among the "Cocktail Nation" groups of the early 1990s. The genre — which included Combustible Edison, The Cocktails and Donkey — was a reaction to the grunge music of the early 1990s. Cocktail Nation bands celebrated the aesthetics and music of the 1950s and early 1960s — lounge jazz, crooning pop, and martinis. Love Jones played any sort of pop music that fit within that label: pop, blues, R&B, bossa nova, doo wop.

Love Jones formed in Louisville in 1990, along with bands like Slint and Palace Brothers, demonstrating the diversity of the Louisville music scene. In 1992, Love Jones moved to Los Angeles and staged a weekly Thursday night residency show at the famed nightclub Largo. The show featured frequent guest performer Jon Brion, who appears on several Love Jones recordings.