The group Parenthetical Girls recorded a song entitled “Careful Who You Dance With,” and several other people remixed said song. This is an EP of those remixes by other people. They are touring the West Coast soon with their pals Extra Life and Abe Vigoda.
Biography
Ever the pragmatists, Parenthetical Girls are in the midst of releasing Privilege–the band’s new full length–as a box set of five extremely limited 12″ EPs on their own Slender Means Society label. These EPs will be sold separately in sequence every quarter over the next 15 months, each as they are completed. They will not be distributed to stores. As the cycle concludes, the fifth and final 12″ will come packaged in a beautiful, aesthetically cohesive LP box designed to house all four of the preceding releases, forming the complete Privilege album. Limited to 500 physical copies per EP, the 12″s will each feature original art by renowned Swedish illustrator Jenny Mörtsell, and will be hand-numbered in the blood of their respective band members. The third 12″–subtitled Mend & Make Do–was released on March 22, 2011, and are numbered in the blood of cover star Jherek Bischoff.
Having taken pop extravagance to its logical conclusion with their critically acclaimed Orchestral Pop opus Entanglements, Parenthetical Girls have given the orchestra their leave–and the resulting transformation is no less momentous. Returning to its core membership of vocalist/creative director Zac Pennington, multi-instrumentalist Rachael Jensen, and producer/arranger Jherek Bischoff, the group set about a path that they have heretofore never really charted: that of sonic restraint. And though the results could scarcely be called subtle, the language of Privilege is direct and unambiguous–a new creative candor that’s felt in both its words and music. It’s Parenthetical Girls in fighting trim, and the difference is both immediate and undeniable.
The group continues this ambitious experiment with Privilege, pt III: Mend & Make Do –a bizarre and bombastic four-song suite of transgression, sexual politics, and bliss debasement. The EP opens upon lead single “The Pornographer,” a leering Blues number (A BLUES NUMBER?!?!) of lust gone wrong, that recalls the unlikely bravado of light-loafered forbearers from the Bad Seeds to Depeche Mode. “For All The Final Girls” follows, a quietly frenzied chamber piece about the inescapable shadow of the past, and of the privileged evasion of personal responsibility.
“Careful Who You Dance With” is a cautionary tale of revelry awry, while “Mend & Make Do (Found Drama II)” continues the fragmented, kitchen-sink pathos begun on Privilege, pt. I. Together, they comprise a bold, strikingly cohesive pop clarion call that further solidifies Parenthetical Girls’ place amongst the most surprising and uncompromising pop groups at work today. And there’s more where that came from.
SELECTED ACCOLADES FOR PRIVILEGE
” a lilting pop sensation… synths, sex and inevitably defeat are inherent and On Death & Endearments captures a band hitting their stride. ” –Drowned In Sound
“intricate melodies, bold instrumentals, and bizarre sounds, but this is what Parenthetical Girls does best.”–The Music Slut
” Every second of this record sounds amazing.”–Redefine Magazine
“Parenthetical Girls, this might be love.”–Impose Magazine
“These four tracks drag you deep into Zac Pennington’s lurid psyche, a world that manages to be as luxuriously seductive as it is strained and terrifying.”–The Music Fix
Tour Dates
- 7/16 Seattle, WA @ Hi Line *
- 7/17 Portland, OR @ Holocene *
- 7/19 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern *
- 7/20 Oakland, CA @ Lobot Gallery *
- 7/21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo *#
* = w/ Extra Life
# = w/ Abe Vigoda
Parenthetical Girls
Careful Who You Dance With Remix EP
(Slender Means Society)
Street Date: July 05, 2011
Formats: Digital only
1. Careful Who You Dance With (Tearist Remix)
2. Careful Who You Dance With (Xiu Xiu Remix)
3. Be Careful Who You Remix With (Dat’r Remix)
4. Careful Who You Dance With (Former Ghosts Remix)
Parenthetical Girls
Privilege: Pt. 3 – Mend & Make Do
(Slender Means Society)
Street Date: March 22, 2011
Formats: Vinyl and Digital only
Track list:
Side A
1. The Pornographer
2. For All The Final Girls
Side B
1. Careful Who You Dance With
2. Mend & Make Do (Found Drama II)