THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE: Vengeance

An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turn. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!

JUSTINE AND THE UNCLEAN: Vengeance

Written by Justine Covault

Produced by David Minehan

Single, Rum Bar Records, 2020

Justine Covault was a force of nature.

I guess that's true of all of us to some degree. Mother Nature plants us here, watches us grow, sees us flower, then stands witness as we wither and return to the earth that brought us forth. Can't fool Mother Nature. It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

But some bring more sheer force to their brief lives in this world. That was Justine. Originally from Michigan--a fabled breeding ground for sturdy and defiant rock 'n' roll--Justine relocated to the Boston area. She became a vital part of Boston's music scene, as a guitarist, a singer, a songwriter, a promoter, a tireless cheerleader, and as proprietor of her own independent record label, Red On Red Records. She was a Boston musician's best friend ever. Hell, she may have been music's best friend ever. 

Hyperbole? I don't care. I believe it in this moment.

Discogs says Justine was in a couple of acts unfamiliar to me, Malachite and Swank, both Boston-based, both in the early- to mid-1990s. Justine's first release fronting her own combo Justine and the Unclean was circa 2017, with her parallel project Justine's Black Threads following in 2020. She initially formed Red On Red Records as a digital-only label, and Red On Red CD releases began appearing in 2021.

I did not know Justine at all prior to Rum Bar Records' release of Justine and the Unclean's "Vengeance" single in 2020. Quite the introduction! Driving and insidiously catchy, "Vengeance" is honky tonk at a rock 'n' roll kegger. The guitars crunch as Ms. Covault sings less-than-sweetly of a former lover she's dismissed from her good graces, tired of his lyin', his cheatin', his drinkin', and his not growin' up. And she addresses her ex's newest flame--Sweet Cookie!--with a sneer and a snide warning: His love ain't nothin' but vengeance any time he can't have me.

It's the Northeastern equivalent of the familiar Southern Bless your heart! Don't let the aspartame mislead ya, my dear Sweet Cookie. You can have him. Get 'im outta my house.

I've adored "Vengeance" since first spin. We've played it on the radio, as we've played subsequent Justine and the Unclean tracks and various Red On Red releases. We included it on a compilation album in 2022, and we were thrilled that it's on the brand-new Justine and the Unclean album The Signal Light. We opened our most recent radio show with the title track from The Signal Light, fully enthused and intent on playing more and more of Justine's music in the weeks, months, and years to come.

Word reached us last week that Justine was gone. Suddenly, unexpectedly, and irrevocably. We were stunned, speechless, too shocked to even mourn. 

I didn't really know Justine. We never met, and our e-communications were about the music. I still thought of her as a friend. My sense of loss can't compare to the devastation now felt by those closest to her. Still, I feel my version of it, even from afar. I can't believe it. I just can't believe it. 

Vengeance is a dish best served cold. But a song called "Vengeance" brought me into a world of new music, new relationships, new connections with musicians and fellow fans. My memories are warm, my recollection fond. 

Justine Covault was a force of nature. Her spirit and dedication will be missed. She will be missed, and she will be missed terribly. Justine left her own indelible mark in our mortal soil. Forces of nature don't move quietly, meekly, or passively.

They move with a vengeance.

Godspeed, Justine.