parenthetical girls - new video, album out

Parenthetical Girls - A Song for Ellie Greenwich

It took me a lot of googling to remember that I first saw the Parenthetical Girls in 2004 opening for Mt. Eerie at what was formerly the Open End Gallery. I must have been a junior in high school, perhaps just learning about indie pop in the form that I know it now. But when I saw the Parenthetical Girls, who had just released their (((GRRRLS))) double-sided vinyl EP released on their own Slender Means Society, something about their brand of off-center, melodramatic, queer pop music struck a chord with me.

The band followed up with the critical acclaimed (and excellent) Safe as Houses LP and maybe even found a bit more notoriety after Casiotone for the Painfully Alone covered their brilliant "Love Connection" on his album Etiquette.

When their new album, Entanglements, came out, people saw it as an entirely different direction for the band. And sure, it IS different, but frontman Zac Pennington still has the same wonderful lyrics with the same awkward pop sense. The quirky instrumentation is abandoned for orchestration. It may not have the same lo-fi qualities as their debut, but just watch the video and somehow all the charms of the band come back.

Download:
The Parenthetical Girls - A Song for Ellie Greenwich