Alice Despard: guitar & vox
Evan Pollack: percussion & vox
Influences
Creedence Clearwater Revival, Who, Stones, Purple Ivy Shadows, Beatles, Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis, Motown, Stax, Neil Young, The Byrds, Spirit, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, Unrest, Rod Stewart and the Faces, Roxy Music, Doors, The Chills, 13th Floor Elevators, Herbert Howells, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Feelies, Pixies, Beethoven, Calexico, George Harrison, Donovan, Wire, U2, Shearwater, Palestrina, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Califone, Al Green, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Stranglers, Patti Smith, Simple Minds, Handel, Clash, Mission of Burma, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Traffic, Mekons, Peter Gabriel, Durufle, Ella Fitzgerald, Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Hildegard Von Bingen, Air, J.S. Bach, Butthole Surfers, Yo La Tengo, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Replacements, Chills, Elliott Smith, Tom Waits, Anonymous Four, Bruce Springsteen, Mozart, Muloudji, Nat King Cole, Sea and Cake, Diane Izzo, Teenage Fanclub, Sheila Chandra, Nat King Cole, Sparkle Horse, Vic Chesnutt, REM, Richard Buckner, Galaxy 500/Luna, Califone, New York Polyphony, Ween, Sufjan Stevens, Big Star, Kinks, 888, etc.
Alice Despard has always been a bit of an outsider in the Washington D.C. music scene-- and she has spent quite a bit of time forging her own sound -- a blend of psychedelia, punk and alt-country--or as Splendid E-Zine put it: pure peyote punk-rock, to which they added, Brilliant.
Alice acknowledges influences as diverse as Van Morrison, Neil Young, Mission of Burma, and the Sea and Cake. And while her influences are rarely worn on her sleeve, when you take a look at the ones mentioned here, a vast guitar-shaped territory of smart songwriting begins to map itself out. Smack dab in the center you?ll find Alice?s music. --Snappop Magazine, 5/01
Washington Post music critic Mark Jenkins has raved for years about Alice Despard's music, to the point where he is beginning to sound like a hoarse, lonely prophet bellowing in the desert:
1998's "Push Me Pull You" (Deep Reverb) was on Mark Jenkin's Top Ten List of Albums in 1998...."Lush, ethereal counrty-rock may seem a curious concept, but this local singer-songwriter manages to combine heaven and Earth in 11 songs that are both mysterious and urgent." --M. Jenkins 1/1/99 Washington Post Weekend
2000's "Alice Despard Group" EP (Arlingtone) "....what's here ranks with the best of Despard's fine (and unjustly overlooked) work." --MJ 10/00 Washington Post
2003's "Thinning of the Veil" "There are swirling mists in Alice Despard's
music...but also beacons which pierce the fog. Melancholy verses shift to
ebullient refrains, roundabout riffs yield to trenchant leads, floating melodies are suddenly redirected by a gathering beat. Despard's style can be compared to that of many bands that combined folkie tunes with psychedelic grooves. Specific influences aren't conspicuous, however, in such songs as the sprightly "Superfine Comb" or the stark (and Beatles-quoting) "Hold You Up." The musician has developed an assured, individual style, one that can be spacious yet never sounds overinflated....[a] precise balance between the cosmic and the earthy that keeps "Thinning of the Veil" grounded even at its loftiest." --Mark Jenkins 7/03 Washington Post/Style
OTHER REVIEWS:
"Alice Despard is one of the great songwriters going these days...If her writing skills weren't enough, Despard has a haunting, low-alto voice that immediately brings chills to the spine....She's unique and utterly compelling."
--Aiding & Abetting 7/03
Despard's solo album is a temptestuous affair, full of grim American country rock ambience and unfettered emotion...Think Patti Smith or a female Neil Young. Think artists who make it real... Splendid E-Zine 2/99
...unflinchingly powerful songs which can't escape the brain no matter what...brilliant and astonishing... --Aiding and Abetting 2/99
..one of the finest voices on the Washington music scene, Despard sings her own powerful compositions, rock songs filled with nearly hymnlike melodies. --Eric Brace, Washington Post, 12/02
Alice Despard Group
The Alice Despard Group has performed at the Black Cat in DC, Mercury Lounge and Knitting Factory in NYC, Galaxy Hut and IOTA in Arlington, VA, and Tokyo Rose in Charlottesville, VA. ADG has opened for Richard Buckner, Lois, Bettie Serveert, Rebecca Gates (Spinanes), Purple Ivy Shadows, Jenny Toomey, and Jonathan Linnell (They Might Be Giants).
Discography:
Thinning of the Veil, LP, 2003, Arlingtone Records
Alice Despard Group EP, 2000, Arlingtone Records
Push Me Pull You LP, 1999, Deep Reverb Records
Alice D. (samsara) LP, 1990
Get Yer Hyaa-Hyaa Out! Hyaa!, vinyl LP , 1987
Hyaa! EP, 1986, Fountain of Youth Records
MP3s of Alice Despard Group are available at:
www.alicedespard.com
www.mp3.washingtonpost.com/bands/alice_despard.shtml
www.epitonic.com/artists/alicedespardgroup.html
Monday - May 18, 2009 At The Black Cat (Washington DC) XMC - Ex - HOLY ROLLERS - Ex - NEGATIVE APPROACH - Ex - MEATMEN - Ex - HYAA! with PUP TENT 9:00pm - $8.00
Hey Big Al!! What's up?? We're likin' the tunes..BUT..we sure would like to hear them thru a Marshall stack on 10..Anyway..Buddy Holly was the man!!! (very cool) Thanks fer the add... -RUSTBUCKiT (the only old school punks who haven't turned into a bunch of hippies)
