There’s a good reason why the Welsh/English band Gene Loves Jezebel stood out from the ’80s rock pack: “We were given a gift from God,” says singer/guitarist Michael Aston. “We were born identical twins; we could both sing and we could both write. We were presented with something utterly unique —Two handsome twins, both a bit flamboyant, doing beautiful harmonies. It was so easy for us to be signed and to get picked up. Everybody bought right into it…Except my brother. And the guys in the band who thought they were Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page.”

And that’s how it stands with Gene Loves Jezebel today: Brothers and original co-frontmen Michael and Jay Aston have been largely estranged since 1990, though they did reunite briefly later in that decade. There have been court battles over the name, and currently each brother has a version of the band operating: Jay’s band gets to be Gene Loves Jezebel in the UK (and “Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel” elsewhere), while Michael, who now lives in California, has the name in the rest of the world. And it’s Michael’s band that plays the Middle East Wednesday (though to add to the confusion, Jay’s band played the same venue in October 2024).

But there’s no confusion as far as Michael is concerned; he says his band is the only real thing, carrying on the blend of heavy rock and goth ambiance that was their trademark. “Anything I’m involved in tends to reflect the early Gene Loves Jezebel: More passionate, more elegiac, less mechanical. It was my band up until ‘House of Dolls’ (their more commercial 1987 album) which isn’t my favorite era of the band. In the early days I insisted there were no guitar solos, no drum solos, no keyboards. And lyrically I always insisted it was based in real experiences. None of that ‘Hey baby I love you’ — That to me is bull.

“That was where I fell out with my brother,” he said. And taking a swipe at another ‘80s band he says, “You can’t fault my brother for doing what he does. Just like you can’t fault A Flock of Seagulls for being as bad as they are.”

As for the two competing versions of the band, he says “There’s only really been one. I got pushed out in ’87 because I wasn’t happy with the direction it was going, then I came back and it was the same backstab again. It’s expensive taking people to court all the time, so I said I’d give them the name in the UK —and they never play there anyway. You can see it online — the footage of (Jay’s GLJ) playing the Cruel World festival, which they shouldn’t have done in the first place. And I’m sorry, but they’re pretty flat and boring — and they’re using a drum machine and backing tapes, all the things I said we’d never do. And they’re walking around thinking they’re Led Zeppelin.  I believe more in unity, development, that us against the world mentality.”

“The other side of all this is that I’m making some of the best music I’ve ever made. I’m a much better artist, I still have my voice. And I still have my hair — or most of it, which is pretty important.”