VIDEO: “The Longer U Wait”
MP3: “In The Flesh” (Pink Floyd Cover)
MP3: “The Beautiful Ones” (Prince Cover)
Fol Chen had an incredible 2009, with rave reviews of their debut album on Asthmatic Kitty, Part One: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made. They shot a video with the Laker girls. They covered Prince’s “The Beautiful Ones” for Spin’s Purplish Rain compilation and Pink Floyd’s “In The Flesh” for MOJO’s tribute to The Wall. They hit the airwaves with live performances on the BBC and KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic and were featured on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. They were remixed by many (including Liars) and did remixes of many others (including Junior Vasquez)
So, how do you top that for the new year and the new decade? Well, you start with a tour with the Liars, start work on a new LP and in your free time work with Emmy award winning director, Chris Wilcha to provide folks on a high concept music video shot in India to tide everyone over til the next record.
What the press has said about Fol Chen:
“Sinister fun” – Los Angeles Magazine
“L.A.’s best new band? Probably. Fol Chen’s beguiling, witty synth-pop with guitar, funky keyboards and West Coastian harmonies.” – LA Weekly
“[Fol Chen] has already garnered online buzz with the first single, “Cable TV.” The wildly infectious dance tune begins with a dash of sitar before digital blips and drum machine hand claps jump in, with smooth female vocals. “Won’t you come away with me?” she asks…The result is a record that balances light and dark, and is fresh enough to hold listeners captive.” – NPR
“Eclectic enigmas devise eerie pop conundrums.” – SPIN
“Fol Chen has a tasty way about them with a minty tang reminiscent of Hot Chip, Subtle and other quality contemporary layer lifters and psyche pokers…So hardtack-slippery, so jagged-smooth, so bouncing-still is what Fol Chen has wrought that pinning it down in “reviewer-speak” seems a disservice. It’s catchy as f*** in places and a touch scary in others but it’s never a dull ride.” – Jambase
“The music itself is alternately catchy and dark, following a typical story arc with moments high and low, jubilant and brooding…the result is a disc whose intricate songs fuel both cerebral readings and trips to the dance floor.” – Impose
“The Highland Park-based combo plays deadpan electro-pop that should be all arched eyebrows, but it’s arranged so warmly and invitingly that its precision feels less cold than careful.” – Los Angeles Times
“There’s a little bit of Grizzly Bear/Animal Collective density in their sound, but Fol Chen are poppier, sunnier, befitting a West Coast disposition.” – Brooklyn Vegan
FOL CHEN
04/10 Los Angeles, CA El Rey *
04/14 Washington, DC Rock ‘n Roll Hotel *
04/15 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom *
04/16 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church *
04/17 Boston, MA Paradise Lounge *
04/18 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg *
04/27 San Francisco, CA Slim’s *
04/29 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre *
04/30 Vancouver, BC VenueCanada *
05/01 Seattle, WA Neumo’s *
* = w/ Liars
FOL CHEN LINKS
MySpace – myspace.com/folchen