Shiv is the redhead with the silvery voice and the jangly guitar. She writes the songs that make the boys sing, wiggle, and sometimes cry in their drinks. Poetic justice. (She's also the model for Siobhan Moynihan, the lead character in DC Comics' Otherworld, written by X-Men/Wonder Woman artist Phil Jiminez.)
Ben sits behind the drum kit and hits things with remarkable rhythm in between really questionable jokes. He used to front Brooklyn-based The Letdowns and can still write a song to break your heart. He also plays a mean guitar.
Mike was a Letdown, too, playing bass and guitar, and sometimes even singing. Now, he keeps things chugging along down in the Lucy's sonic boiler-room. If you wondered why your ass was shaking as you listened, well, now you know.
Ray is a classically-trained pianist and singer, composer, voice coach & music director. He's also a multi-lingual recovering Goth obsessed with electronic music. He lives in Manhattan because he has no patience and is never satisfied.
Influences
"Jangle-pop", the genre formerly known as "modern rock", and angry girl music. (Shiv, who writes the songs, is awfully fond of REM, Ivy, The Replacements and a wide variety of really questionable pop.)
Sounds Like
REM fronted by Beth Gibbons, with BV's by the Beach Boys, lyrics by Suzanne Vega, and produced by Air. Sort-of.
It's the same old story. Girl learns to sing. Girl gets a guitar. Girl has her heart snatched away and stomped on by various boys. Girl starts writing songs about how it feels and performing them publicly. People like songs -- and girl. Girl decides she wants a band, recruits friends from another band to play with her (along with a stray keyboardist off the intarwebs). They all hang out in a Brooklyn loft with no climate control, playing fast and singing loud to keep warm.
Since then, they've played New York's Luna Lounge, Siberia, Magnetic Field, and Knitting Factory, among others. Maybe you can see them near you sometime soon!
Okay, so it wasn't really that simple or brief. But you're here to listen, not to read. You don't care about our personal traumas or influences...yet. If you listen long enough, you'll probably figure them out on your own, anyway.
The Hip-Hop Revolution WILL be televised on 5.18.2008. Live broadcast starting 8pm. Hit the ON switch. Take the red pill. Watch here or on my MySpace page or at ChillyS. tv
