Actress Jena Malone Records Social Registry 7"

Gang Gang Dance, Growing also contribute to Social Registry singles series
"Actor/actress-turned-musician"...is there any scarier phrase in the English language? (Yes, and it's "reality-TV-star-turned-musician.") From Keanu "Dogstar" Reeves and Russell "30 Odd Foot of Grunts" Crowe to Jennifer Love "BareNaked" Hewitt and Gina "I toured with Girls Against Boys" Gershon, history is littered with embarrassing accidents involving beautiful people and guitars.
So what makes Jena Malone different? Well, she's not a huge movie star yet, for one thing-- you might remember her from Donnie Darko, Saved, Pride and Prejudice, or, um, Stepmom. And she doesn't have a team of assistants, stylists, marketers, and managers controlling her every move. It's just her, "recording and producing all of my own music with the help of whatever musician is around at the time," as she told Pitchfork in a recent email exchange.
So far, Malone has recorded two demos, Bloodstains for Sailors and A-NEWT; EMOTIONAL NUTRITION. A pair of tracks from each demo can be heard on Malone's MySpace page. They're pretty out-there-- bedroom electronics, spaced-out keyboards, and Malone's spare vocals, falling somewhere in between Scout Niblett and Karen O.
It makes sense that Malone has hooked up with the experimental NYC label the Social Registry, home to such acts as Gang Gang Dance and Blood on the Wall. Malone will release two Bloodstains for Sailors tracks, "Tested Dry" and "Greeneyed Monster", on a Social Registry 7" sometime later this year. The former features Harper Simon on guitar, while the latter features Louis Schwadron on keyboards.
The 7" will be a part of an upcoming singles series run by the label, which will launch this summer. Each month, Social Registry will put out 500 copies of a single, each hand-numbered and in silk-screened jackets. Along with Malone, the series will include singles by Gang Gang Dance, Total Life (Kevin Doria from Growing), Brian DeGraw of Gang Gang Dance, IUD (featuring Lizzie Bougatsos of Gang Gang Dance), Sian Alice Group, Douglas Armour, and TK Webb.
The tracks will also be available as digital downloads, and fans will be able to subscribe to a year's worth of singles for a reduced price via the Social Registry's website.
"I have been assembling a band to help me realize the live show," Malone said, "and so far that band consists of Russell Simins [of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion] on drums, Louis Schwadron on keyboards and Chris Maxwell on guitar. I really wanted to be able to focus on the words and the voice. I think it's gonna be rad!"
Malone will perform three shows in New York City in March, including one at Manhattan's Joe's Pub, which will be an acoustic show featuring Russell Simins on guitar.