Jersey City duo, Fascinations Grand Chorus, released their debut full-length, Presentations of Electrical Confectionery, in November of last year. That album's charming combination of nostalgia and straight-up excellent pop songcraft made it one of my favorites from 2019.
Yesterday, Fascinations Grand Chorus released the video for single "Can't Let Go." Co-directed by the band and Bob Sweeney, the clip doubles down on the nostalgic vibes. It follows Stephanie Cupo (vocals, keys) and Andrew Pierce (drums) as they dash along the boards and through the retro streets of Wildwood, NJ.
This seems like as good a place as any to announce that, after a couple years' worth of back and forth and checking of schedules, I've finally been able to book Fascinations Grand Chorus for a show in Asbury Park. The duo will be coming down to play The Asbury Hotel on March 6th along with Natalie Newbold (Well Wisher) and Deaglan Howlett (Beauty, The Vansaders).
I wanted to call your attention to a pair of releases from artists I've supported around here for a few years.
Joseph Black, Wildest Dreams EP
Way, way back in the infancy of CoolDad Music, I came across New Brunswick lo-fi pop band Honeydrum. With hints of Ariel Pink and early-80s R.E.M., I felt like Honeydrum were destined for bigger things. That materialized in two albums for Captured Tracks under the new name Donovan Blanc.
Last year, Joseph Black of Honeydrum / Donovan Blanc released his debut, solo LP, Northern Exposure. That album further solidified Black as one of the most unsung, underrated heroes of retro-inspired pop. Last month, Black released Wildest Dreams, the first of three, three-song cassingles in a project set to span the end of 2019 into 2020.
Black recorded, mixed, and mastered Wildest Dreams in Highland Park, NJ. The three songs on the EP are breezy, dreamy pop that draw on some sounds of the 80s that are soothingly familiar to my Gen X ears. There isn't a weak moment on Wildest Dreams, and closer "Lonelier Than Heaven Knows" is a standout. It's a short, romantic track reminiscent of Psychedelic Furs and John Hughes films.
Wildest Dreams is available as a super-limited 25 cassette run. It's also downloadable over at Joseph Black's Bandcamp page and streamable everywhere.
Fascinations Grand Chorus, Presentations of Electrical Confectionery
Speaking of bands I've been supporting for a while who have a bit of a retro vibe, Fascinations Grand Chorus -- the Jersey City duo of Stephanie Cupo and Andrew Pierce -- released Presentations of Electrical Confectionery last week.
I've always loved Fascinations Grand Chorus's commitment to their aesthetic. Presentations of Electrical Confectionery is ten songs showcasing the band's love of the timeless pop of Brian Wilson, Jersey forebears like The Shirelles, early AM radio, even the punk of The Ramones or The Misfits. The band also throw in a few tinges of psychedelia which results in some of the best sounds they've produced to date.
I've been playing Presentations... on repeat all week, and it's honestly difficult to single anything out. All the songs work seamlessly together. From bopping opener "Can't Let Go" to the mellow, Carpenters-esque "Echoes" to the surfily-tinged three-and-a-half-minute pop epic that is "Would It Be," there is something infectiously engaging about every song here. The spaced-out intro to "Cry Over You" gives way to an earworm embellished with some more spacey keys. Closer "Back Again" is a soulful bop that takes the album out on a vibe as upbeat as what kicked things off.
For me, though, "Future World" is the standout track here. Combining guitars and horns with Cupo's vocals and keys, the song represents a single confection that has all of Fascinations Grand Chorus's disparate electrical and analog influences as ingredients.
Presentations of Electrical Confectionery is available now. You can order a special limited-run CD over at the Fascinations Grand Chorus Bandcamp page, and you can stream the album pretty much everywhere.
I was 17 when the movie came out, and it just didn't really seem like it was in my wheelhouse at the time. CoolMom, it turns out, has this weird -- almost irrational -- aversion to the film; so, once we got together, the prospect of ever seeing Dirty Dancing kind of evaporated.
The movie has become part of our pop cultural consciousness over the years, so I'm familiar with the broad strokes; though, I never knew that Patrick Swayze, and not Jennifer Grey, uttered the famous "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" line until just yesterday.
Anyway...
I am a huge fan of Sabrina Ellis through her bands A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit. I've also had countless people tell me that Har Mar Superstar (aka, Sean Tillmann) is a fearless and incomparable entertainer. The pair have a new collaboration called Heart Bones; and, on Friday night, they brought their "Heart Bones Do the Songs of Dirty Dancing" tour to Brooklyn Bazaar. I figured, "Why not?"
Two hours in the CoolVan to Greenpoint plus more than a few minutes to find parking. Oh, well. This was the first time I'd be seeing a show at any version of Brooklyn Bazaar. I walked into the nearly empty venue just after doors, as is my custom. A steady stream of people filed in over the next couple of hours, and the place was brimming by the time Heart Bones took the stage.
First, though, Jersey City's Fascinations Grand Chorus got things started. I've been a supporter of this duo for a couple of years now; but this was, surprisingly, the first time I'd made it out to see them live. To tell you the truth, it was their late announcement that they'd be opening the show that helped me make my final decision to brave the BQE.
Fascinations Grand Chorus
Fascinations Grand Chorus
Fascinations Grand Chorus
Stephanie Cupo and Andrew Pierce have their branding on-point as they both performed on Friday wearing orange. Their sound is decidedly retro with kind of a 60s pop feel. And, together, those things give Fascinations Grand Chorus this cool sense of being not only a band but also performance art. The songs are also very good.
Next up were Heart Bones' tourmates, Closeness. The Omaha duo consists of Orenda (Azure Ray) and Todd Fink (The Faint). They set up facing each other and combined guitar, bass, beats, and vocal effects into a pretty mesmerizing set. They had the stage lights all but turned off and used a pair of strobes to provide illumination throughout the performance. Songs went from discordant to danceable, from noisy to anthemic; and I was sold.
Closeness
Closeness
Closeness
Sean Tillmann came up to the front during the set. He danced next to me as he exhorted the rest of the crowd to get into it. At one point, he looked over at me with a huge grin on his face as if to say, "You believe this??," laughed, and tousled my hair.
As we waited for Heart Bones to take the stage, I chatted with some Har Mar Superstar die-hards -- originally from Tillmann's home of Minnesota -- who had driven up from DC for the show. I met a Dirty Dancing super-fan whose son, himself a Har Mar fan, had brought her out to the show. Then, the band took the stage. Sax, guitar, bass, drums, keys. Ellis walked onstage and opened the show with a solo performance of "Yes." Tillmann then joined her wearing his Members Only windbreaker, and the pair did "She's Like the Wind."
Heart Bones
Heart Bones
Heart Bones
From the very beginning, Tillmann was at the front of the stage singing to fans. At one point, he grabbed the back of my head and put his forehead to mine. Similarly, Ellis offered the mic to people up front or leaned down and sang with audience members. Both came down from the stage and danced with people towards the back.
Heart Bones
Heart Bones
Tillmann and Ellis have written several songs together and departed from the 80s cheese and 60s classics to share those. Singles "This Time It's Diffrent" and "Little Dancer" are standouts. For the encore, we got "Time of My Life" complete with a shirtless Tillmann lifting a blow-up doll over his head for the climax.
Heart Bones
Heart Bones
What can I say? This show was the most fun I've had in a while by far, and I truly needed to have some fun. Har Mar Superstar and Sabrina Ellis are performers whose selflessness and commitment can't help but bring a smile to your face. I'm looking forward to more originals from their collaboration.
The Dirty Dancing tour now heads out to the West Coast before winding up in Austin, TX.
All of the pictures from the show are up on the Facebook page.
So? How was it? Did all of your Thanksgiving dreams come true? Did you get all the Black Friday Record Store Day releases you wanted? Did you score any super door-buster deals?
I spent today kind of lazing around, having lunch with the in-laws, and debating whether I really and truly need that super-expensive full-frame camera that is $200 off for today only. I decided I don't. Probably the right call.
I also spent some time trying to get a couple of things together to tell you about so that you don't forget about me over the long weekend.
Fascinations Grand Chorus, Actor / Actress EP
Brooklyn's Fascinations Grand Chorus recently released their second EP of 2016. The duo of Stephanie Cupo and Andrew Pierce are meticulous about their aesthetic, and the four-song Actor / Actress sticks tightly to the band's reverby, retro sound.
I shared "When You Make Up Your Mind" here a while back. Like that track, the other songs on Actor / Actress mine the sounds of 60s pop while retaining a coolness and detachment that make them almost post-punk, if that makes any sense. The title track, for example, is bouncy pop; but Cupo's vocals never let go into full-on exuberance. Similarly, the spacey and rumbling "Can't Make Everyone Happy" feels like melodramatic, wall-of-sound style pop; but there's a restraint that keeps the song from becoming a complete imitation of that sound.
It's weird. Like Fascinations Grand Chorus came from a future where everything sounds kind of like it did 50 years ago.
First Responder, "Hey Bud"
Columbus, Ohio's First Responder started as the solo, singer / songwriter project of Sierra Mollenkopf. The songs on the band's upcoming In My Dreams My Windows Faced West were originally written to be performed on acoustic guitar; but, somewhere along the line, Mollenkopf got herself a full band.
As a four-piece, First Responder combine Mollenkopf's bright and willowy vocals with something a bit noisier and fuzzier than acoustic guitar. The result can be heard on first single "Hey Bud." It's easy to picture a quieter, folksier, more confessional arrangement; but what we get on "Hey Bud" ends up a little more on the dream pop side of things. There are moments when it sounds like, maybe, the band want to cut loose a little more; but they hold back enough to let Mollenkopf's voice be the focus.
Check out "Hey Bud" below and look for In My Dreams My Windows Faced West on 12/16. First Responder hit Montclair's Meatlocker on 12/19.
Quite simply, I love what Fascinations Grand Chorus are doing. I love their commitment to their aesthetic. I love the catchiness of all of their songs.
The duo of Stephanie Cupo and Andrew Pierce work with the all-analog and reverb-soaked sounds of 60s pop. But, here in the 21st century, those sounds have already been run through the filters of psychedelia and the early punk of The Misfits and The Ramones. Fascinations Grand Chorus take things back to the beginnings, but don't really seem to be trying to totally shake off the remnants of those other influences.
What we end up with on a song like "When You Make Up Your Mind" then is something that's simultaneously sunny, spacey, and dark. There's something about Cupo's almost deadpan delivery that, when combined with the organic feeling of the music (there is actually an organ on this), gives things a sense of contrivance that I just really enjoy. Like the pair are setting out to meticulously craft something specific.
Anyway...
"When You Make Up Your Mind" is the first single from the upcoming Actor / Actress which is due in November.
Back in March, I shared with you "Welcome," the debut single from Brooklyn duo Fascinations Grand Chorus. The project is the result of a competition / collaboration between Stephanie Cupo (Souvenir Stand) and Andrew Pierce (Chalk and Numbers). On Friday, the pair released their self-titled EP. In addition to "Welcome," the set includes two more examples of the "rival songwriters'" approach to retro, lo-fi pop.
"Growing" is an urgent bit of keyboard driven pop that includes an almost surf-inspired guitar solo. "I Don't Wanna Fall in Love" is a reverb-drenched wall of sound. Together, all three songs form a perfect mini soundtrack to summer days and nights spent hanging on warm Brooklyn rooftops or ambling along the Jersey Shore.
You can stream Fascinations Grand Chorus via Bandcamp. The EP is available for purchase directly from that page or via your favorite online source for that kind of stuff.
A while back, Stephanie Cupo's Souvenir Stand made a stop at Asbury Lanes to play a show with our good friends in Dentist. Her songs were rooted in the pristine pop of Brian Wilson and 60s girl groups. Now, Cupo has joined with drummer Andrew Pierce (formerly of Chalk and Numbers) for a new project called Fascinations Grand Chorus.
Styling themselves as a "band of competition," Stephanie and Andrew joined together to "write against each other" and to push each other's boundaries as songwriters. The result of their first competition is "Welcome." The song retains the retro sensibility of Cupo's work as Souvenir Stand; but, this time around, things are more lo-fi with Cupo's vocals and keys being carried along by Pierce's rolling drums.
Check out "Welcome" below, the first track from the duo's forthcoming, self-titled EP.
