Girls Are Rad: Christy&Emily
Get a little superstitious this fall with Christy&Emily's new release.
Well, folks, it’s fall. And if you’re anything like me, you’d like to turn down the dance music and curl up with some experimental psych-folk. Good news: Christy&Emily seem like they could visit you in a psychedelic autumnal dream - that one dream where you’re wandering through a dark forest, and they sneak up on you from behind with their stringed instruments and murderous animal friends and whatnot. Oh, you don’t have that dream? In my defense, I didn’t either until watching the duo’s video for “Superstition,” the title-track to their upcoming sophomore release on Big Print (available for digital download now at Think Indie).
Christy Edwards is a self-taught guitarist who learned to play from a love of heavy metal and Metallica as a teenager. In addition to her mad guitar skills, Edwards can also add music video direction to her resume, having directed that spooky video to “Superstition,” which was shot by Mat Marlin of the Brooklyn punk band, Pterodactyl. Emily Manzo, on the other hand, is a classically trained pianist who’s been playing since kindergarten-age. She switched to keyboards after joining Wolf Fighters, a group that Edwards was also a part of. The tale reads like so many band bios: the two met over whiskey and saltines, decided to break out on their own, and never looked back.
Based in Brooklyn, Manzo now plays on a Wurlitzer and a Minimoog and pairs up with Edwards’ deep guitar reverb and analog delay to create hazy, guttural sounds fleshed out by spellbinding organ notes. So spellbinding, in fact, their sound has been referred to as “goblin folk.” Gueen’s Head (Social Registry, 2007) was Christy&Emily’s first release and garnered them comparisons to Galaxie 500, the Velvet Underground and even the McGarrigle Sisters. An apparent delay from Social Registry sent Christy&Emily right into the arms of Robert Lloyd (The Nightingales) and his Big Print label to release a follow-up. Superstition follows a similar path to Gueen’s Head, but manages to somehow create a more hollow and sparse sound, even with the addition of a string trio and vibraphone.
The album features the song “Nightingale,” a tinkling, key-driven track long heard at live shows and written in the span of one morning. “105 & Rising” is where the garage influence runs high, whereas during “Lovers Talk,” those McGarrigle Sisters references can be clearly heard. Closing track “Tigers” even features Kid Millions of Oneida on drums and is a definite standout because, well, it sounds so deliciously Oneida-y with playfully creepy, Tilly & the Wall-ish lyrics. A must-have for your seasonal playlists.
VIDEO: “Superstition”
Posted by Leah Urbom on Oct 15, 2009 @ 9:00 am