Abigail Grush
Barsuk Records
Seattle's Abigail Grush (Abby to her friends) plays some of the most
infectiously off-the-wall pop music you'll ever hear -- if you can even call it pop music; it
might be a little too weird to qualify. Each of her bouncy wacky numbers is a stew of
unexpected sounds and influences, ranging from pop to No Wave to country to avant-jazz to Brechtian musical theater to Saturday morning cartoon music. Like some of
her obvious sources of inspiration -- The Fugs, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Laurie Anderson --
Grush clearly considers no style off-limits. She and her band employ a breathtakingly vast array of instruments, including clarinet, violin, mandolin, French horn, accordion, slide whistle, and glockenspiel, and incorporate a remarkable number of disparate sounds into tight, action-packed compositions that brim with a crazy, brilliant logic which borders on complete
madness. Grush's remarkably elastic voice and loopy lyrics make her eclectic sound
complete. Imagine Alice in Wonderland updated for the twenty-first century and
set to music and you'll have an idea of this music's vivid nuttiness.
Grush has been around the avant-pop block a few times, having played with a
number of quirky, progressive outfits in both New York and Seattle, including Pea Soup, whose Frank Pullen and Cassie Peek form the core of Grush's backing band. She released her solo debut, The Phantom Beat -- featuring "The Boy Next Door," "Petite Danse," and "If It Wasn't You" -- on Barsuk Records in 1999.
Jesse Ashlock
last updated:
08/10/01
Similar Artists:
This Busy Monster, The Fugs, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, The Residents, Laurie Anderson, Sport Murphy
Other Suggestions:
Neutral Milk Hotel,
Thingy,
Built To Spill,
The Glands,
Randy Newman,
The Magnetic Fields,
Parker Paul,
Nourallah Brothers,
Future Bible Heroes,
John Vanderslice,
Little Champions,
Danielson Famile,
Glasstown,
20 Minute Loop,
The Pee Wee Fist,
Nik Freitas,
The Grassy Knoll,
Spatula,
The Flying Luttenbachers,
Zmrzlina,
Starship Beer,
Drums and Tuba,
Bablicon,
Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard,
Charles Dodge,
Mia Doi Todd,
Noriko Tujiko
