Kevin Bronson on September 26th, 2013

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It is somehow comforting to hear that, after all these years, Gabriel Hart still has issues. Not to wish duress on anybody, mind you, but Hart’s high-strung relationships with seemingly everything in his orbit make for such fun music. As the chief instigator in L.A. nine-piece Jail Weddings, Hart seems either on the verge of breakdown or flat-out unhinged on the band’s new album “Meltdown ”“ A Declaration of Unpopular Emotion.” Want to be a fly on wall at somebody’s therapy session? C’mon down, “Meltdown” makes it all sound fun. Occasionally recalling a self-obsessed Gogol Bordello, Jail Weddings are musically capable of leaping tall genres in a single bound, owing to Hart’s supporting cast of vocalists Jada Wagensomer, Marianne Stewart and Kristina B, guitarist Christopher Rager, string player Hannah Blumenfeld, keyboardist Marty Sataman, bassist Morgan Hart Delaney and drummer Dave Clifford. Classic rock, folk music (American and Euro), psych-rock, showtunes, ballads – all are part of the band’s cinematic thrill ride, and under the direction of co-producer Mark Rains, all make sense over the album’s sprawling 14 tracks and 46 minutes. “Meltdown” is out via Neurotic Yell Records (naturally). It’s less pricey than meds.

||| Stream: “It’s No Fair” and “Angel of Sleep”

||| Live: Jail Weddings celebrate their album release with a show tonight at the Echo.

||| Previously: “(There’s Nothing Worse Than a) Crying Girl,” “Somebody Lonely,” “I Thought You Were Someone I Knew”