Parlour Tricks - Broken Hearts/Bones (June 23, 2015)
Like that little black dress or tweedy sports jacket you spot in your favorite thrift store, Parlour Tricks' luscious blend of three-part vocal harmonies and songs of romantic tumult will strike you as both vintage and timeless. Lead singer and songwriter Lily Cato, bassist and synth player Brian Kesley, drummer Terry Moore, and guitarist Angelo Spagnolo met in college and first played together on a whim when Cato decided to try her hand at songwriting. A few months later Cato asked Morgane Hollowell and Darah "DeeDee" Golub (also friends from college) to join when she realized that nearly every song she'd written was begging for three female voices.With influences as disparate as the Andrews Sisters and Vampire Weekend, and a stage show that incorporates matching clothing and synchronized dance moves, making sure that everyone is having a blast both onstage and off is paramount to all six members. Seeing as how The Village Voice named them 2014’s Best Pop Band in New York City, it seems like a mission accomplished.
Lily Cato:
I first met (Bar/None's) Mark (Lipsitz) in early December, 2014. He had reached out to the
band after seeing some live videos on YouTube, and Brian and I agreed to
meet him at a diner in the East Village. The meeting went well
(clearly), but that's not actually what made the afternoon memorable.
Upon introducing ourselves, Mark pulled out a book called A Pickpocket's Tale by
Timothy Gilfoyle. He said he'd done some research on the band and knew
that my writing was often inspired by non-fiction books like this, so he
thought he'd bring one and hoped I'd like it and hoped I didn't already
have it; maybe it would provide me with some new ideas. I was instantly
taken aback by how different this behavior was from what we'd been used
to in the music industry. Mark was just about as different as humanly
possible from the "suits" we were accustomed to meeting, who would take
us out to a fancy meal and maybe had heard a few songs of ours but had
no idea who we actually were, nor did they seem to care. Mark, unlike
anyone we'd met with, had apparently done a lot of homework and brought
me a gift based on what he'd learned. I was impressed and touched by the
gesture. Anyone who knows me knows that I like nothing more than a good
book, especially that kind of book. We sat and talked for a few hours,
and within the next two months we were signed to Bar/None with our debut
album set to be released 5 months later. I got to know Mark and Glenn
much better over those next few months, of course. But that first
impression set the tone for our relationship. It allowed me to
immediately understand that Bar/None is the rare label that enjoys
taking time to get to know their artists. They relish the opportunity to
find music that excites them, and it makes them happy to discover what
makes those artists tick. In an extremely and increasingly jaded and
cynical industry, their approach has been a breath of fresh air.
Oh and the book was awesome, too.
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