4:33 pm

Moving Along.

The shipping nightmare has subsided (”it’s an enviable problem to have”—R. Jensen), the dust has settled, and neither the forces of crime or nature were able to stop Parenthetical Girls from finally shipping out all of pre- and post- orders of Privilege, pt. 1: On Death & Endearments. A genuine thanks to all who have ordered thus far for your patience and confidence—it’s incredibly rewarding to have your support in our modest endeavors.

Here are some things about all of that:

• Things I Have Learned Feature (via The Quietus)

• Interview (via Evil Monito)

• Interview (via Gaydar Nation)

• Los Campesinos! 4 Parenthetical Girls 4eva (via Drowned In Sound)

• Soundtrack: The Fall (via This Is Fake DIY)

• Epilogue Magazine

• “Sounds for the Rhythmically Admired” playlist (via MOG)

Now let’s put it to bed.

“The World Turned To Ashes In His Mouth” by Steven Miller

Parenthetical Girls are presently in the frantic final stages of completing work on a truly epic collaboration with our good friends in Seattle experimental theatre company Implied Violence.

This work is a continuation of The Dorothy K, the piece that Zac performed with the group this past Summer as part of the New Island Festival on Governor’s Island in NYC. Here’s a picture of Zac being leeched:

The new piece—featuring both Zac & Rachael, plus a new, 5-song musical suite conceived and performed by Zac and composer Brian Lawlor—will be premiered at the Donaufestival in Krems, Austria at the end of April.

This will be followed by a very brief Parenthetical Girls European tour. Deep breath.

Also: Privilege 2 is in the can, and waiting to be mixed.

This is our life now, apparently.

Love,

Parenthetical Girls

February 11, 2010
1:09 am

Blood Leaves Lovely.

If you’ve made it this far, one imagines that it’s safe to assume you’re already aware of the fact that Privilege pt. 1: On Death & Endearments is presently available for Pre-Order. At this current pitch of sales, we may just break even on this venture after all.

The half-hearted press push has resulted in a couple of charmingly(?) self-deprecating features so far for your perusal, should you find yourself with nothing better to do:

• Drowned In Sound
• Soundtrack: The Fall (via This Is Fake DIY)
• Epilogue Magazine

Oh, and as for all this bloody business—we can only hope that this particular grotesquery will finally purge Mr. Pennington of his decidedly juvenile sanguinary obsessions. Though one has learned not to get one’s hopes up. Meantime:

GROSS.

Most sincerely gratitude to our evening’s phlebotomist, Ms. Sarah Hudson, RN, for her donation of time, expertise, and post-plasmic cookies. Your presence very likely saved Zac a trip to the emergency room, and the requisite psychiatric eval.

And in case you missed it the hundredth time:

The “Evelyn McHale” video, directed by Judah Switzer

Download the “Evelyn McHale” MP3

January 28, 2010
1:15 am

“He is much better off without me… I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody”—Evelyn McHale

The “Evelyn McHale” video, directed by Judah Switzer

“Evelyn McHale”

The cat is coming out of the bag. The bag had this press release taped to it:

“Ever the pragmatists, Parenthetical Girls are set to release 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 in May of 2011, 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 first 12″–subtitled On Death & Endearments–will be released on February 23, 2010.

When last we left Parenthetical Girls, the group had undergone a seismic shift in both scope and purpose, shedding the trappings of their past–and of indie rock altogether–with their critically acclaimed Orchestral Pop opus Entanglements . An experiment in Pop maximalism, Entanglements took perverse pleasure in blending the bloated chamber arrangements of a century’s worth of pop history with the rhythmic dissonance of modern classical composition–and then topping it all off with a dense, Joycean novella narrated in part by a pedophile. Needless to say, it was all a lot to swallow.

Having taken pop extravagance to its logical conclusion, Parenthetical Girls have given the orchestra their leave–and the resulting transformation is no less momentous. Returning to its core membership of vocalist/songwriter 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 ofPrivilege 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 inaugurates this ambitious experiment with Privilege, pt 1: On Death & Endearments–a compelling four-song suite drenched in the long-latent glam-racket so often suggested in Pennington’s androgynous lilt. Nowhere is this more apparent than with lead-off track “Evelyn McHale,” a Bolan-ian homage that–much likeEntanglements‘ “A Song For Ellie Greenwich”–imagines the infamous title character as a springboard for more allegorical confessions. The cinematic desperation of“Someone Else’s Muse” follows–its pulsing grandeur underscoring a tale of emasculation and resentment in the face of another’s deserved success. The deathbed march of “On Death & Endearments”–punctuated by gloriously gated snares and a haunting angel chorus–simultaneously recalls the staggering Hounds Of Love heights of Kate Bush, and the calculating, icy croon of early Roxy Music. The EP concludes with“Found Drama I,” a tragic, Eno-indebted lullaby whose atmospheric longing swells with heartbreaking sweetness. 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.

TRACKLIST:

Evelyn McHale

Someone Else’s Muse

On Death & Endearments

Found Drama I”

Also—we did this thing.

January 22, 2010
9:53 am

Privilege, Pt. 1: On Death & Endearments.

“Evelyn McHale”

The cat is coming out of the bag. The bag had this press release taped to it:

“Ever the pragmatists, Parenthetical Girls are set to release 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 in May of 2011, 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 first 12″–subtitled On Death & Endearments–will be released on February 23, 2010.

When last we left Parenthetical Girls, the group had undergone a seismic shift in both scope and purpose, shedding the trappings of their past–and of indie rock altogether–with their critically acclaimed Orchestral Pop opus Entanglements . An experiment in Pop maximalism, Entanglements took perverse pleasure in blending the bloated chamber arrangements of a century’s worth of pop history with the rhythmic dissonance of modern classical composition–and then topping it all off with a dense, Joycean novella narrated in part by a pedophile. Needless to say, it was all a lot to swallow.

Having taken pop extravagance to its logical conclusion, Parenthetical Girls have given the orchestra their leave–and the resulting transformation is no less momentous. Returning to its core membership of vocalist/songwriter 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 ofPrivilege 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 inaugurates this ambitious experiment with Privilege, pt 1: On Death & Endearments–a compelling four-song suite drenched in the long-latent glam-racket so often suggested in Pennington’s androgynous lilt. Nowhere is this more apparent than with lead-off track “Evelyn McHale,” a Bolan-ian homage that–much likeEntanglements‘ “A Song For Ellie Greenwich”–imagines the infamous title character as a springboard for more allegorical confessions. The cinematic desperation of“Someone Else’s Muse” follows–its pulsing grandeur underscoring a tale of emasculation and resentment in the face of another’s deserved success. The deathbed march of “On Death & Endearments”–punctuated by gloriously gated snares and a haunting angel chorus–simultaneously recalls the staggering Hounds Of Love heights of Kate Bush, and the calculating, icy croon of early Roxy Music. The EP concludes with“Found Drama I,” a tragic, Eno-indebted lullaby whose atmospheric longing swells with heartbreaking sweetness. 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.

TRACKLIST:

Evelyn McHale

Someone Else’s Muse

On Death & Endearments

Found Drama I”

Also—we did this thing.

January 8, 2010
3:27 pm

And here we stand, faced with the inevitability of yet another new year, and all of its associated conventions. And I feel exponentially more conventional every 12 months or so. And Hope is a fickle mistress. But here we stand. And things look pretty good from this vantage.

Here is some Parenthetical news for now and for the coming months:

“The Christmas Creep” single–in all of it’s now obsolescent glory–is presently sold out and largely shipped. Due to some manufacturing issues, we are still awaiting a second shipment which will be up for sale shortly, but quantities are scarce. Did I mention that Russell Mael ordered one? Completely worth all of the money we invariably lost on the project. Let’s hope he’s not litigious. You can still “pre-order” them this-a-way:

Territories

United States $5.00 Canada $6.00 All Other Territories $8.00

Additionally: The Scottish Play, Parenthetical Girls’ hyper-limited 10″ tribute to the genius of Ivor Cutler, is finally available in the States, minus the absurd Import price tag.

It’s being distributed–along with nearly all of our records–by Secretly Canadian Distribution. Look for it at your local record shop (ha!).

After a half decade just basically BEGGING to “feat.” himself out to anyone who would have him, Zac’s diva quotient is rising exponentially this winter–as some fine folks are finally throwing him a few bones. Mid-profile guest turns include:

* Some vaguely audible vocal work on the highly anticipated new Los Campesinos! record Romance Is Boring (this feather is shared with Jherek, who contributes some dazzling strings, among other things… but that dude’s on everything).

* A brief cameo on the Gigi album Maintentant–the star studded new project from No Kids/P:ano mastermind Nick Krgovich–also featuring the likes of Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Mirah, Katie Eastburn (Young People), Karl Blau, and many more.

That’s a pretty good start, right?

In more (((GRRRLS)))-specific news: the first iteration of Privilege–that much-hinted at new record of ours–has been delayed slightly due to additional manufacturing issues (vinyl manufacturers!), but should be out surprisingly soon. Details will surface very soon–for realz this time, promise.

Cordially,

(((GRRRLS)))

November 30, 2009
6:08 pm

The Christmas Creep.

UPDATE: The 7″s got a little behind schedule, but pre-orders have now nearly all been mailed out. Thank you for your patience! We still have a few left, but they’re going fast!

So it’s come to this: one more Christmas. Let it be known that no one was more disappointed with last year’s conspicuous absence of a Parenthetical Girls Christmas release than Parenthetical Girls themselves—if only because we were alone in noticing. Allow us to quietly atone with this year’s entry in the Parenthetical Girls Christmas Archives: The Christmas Creep single. Our Double-A-Side Christmas Gift To You:

“Thank God It’s Not Christmas“—Inspired by two discreet stone classics from the Mael’s bloated back catalogue, our rendition of Kimono My House’s resolutely anti-holiday anthem attempts to shoehorn the song into the style latter-day Sparks records—specifically, 1983’s In Outer Space. We didn’t say it was a good idea.

“Flowers For Albion“—A cheery original about the Christmas Blitz of 1940.

Furthermore, we’re pressing an extremely limited run of 7″s for the occasion this year, primarily as Christmas gifts for our friends and family (surprise, everyone!)—but we’ve decided to release a scant number of them publicly (150, specifically) to help defray some of the production costs. You’re more than welcome to just download the tracks above for free of course, but in the event that you might want to own a little piece of the magic, here’s the deal: The record will be housed in a fancy, letter-pressed sleeve handprinted by Zac, and will shipped just as soon as we get the vinyl back from the plant—on approximately December 15th… (hopefully) just in time for Christmas. Pre-order below to ensure that you get a copy before they inevitably sell out. Because Christmas is nothing without commerce.

Territories

United States $5.00 Canada $6.00 All Other Territories $8.00

Happiest of Holidays,

(((GRRRLS)))

November 23, 2009
2:28 pm

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

From the darkening basement recesses of Portland, Oregon, Parenthetical Girls version 8.whatevs once again concern themselves with the making of yet more useless, potentially arrogant, and certainly consciousness-clogging sound. Prep your externals.

Also on the agenda: We (((GRRRLS))) are presently awaiting the delivery of a pair of new vinyl releases: One for your dour holiday dealings—tentatively titled The Christmas Creep—and another, slightly more functional 12″ release that we’ve quietly titled Privilege, Pt. 1: On Death & Endearments. Less evasive very soon, I assure you.

And also:

Parenthetical Girls—”Handsome Devil”

Parenthetical Girls—”Doughnut In My Hand”

November 3, 2009
1:32 am

I Can’t Pretend I Still Feel Very Much Like Singing.

Parenthetical Girls—”Handsome Devil”

Parenthetical Girls—”Doughnut In My Hand”

It’s been ages. All of it. But it’s all finally here.

Above you will note some significantly more concrete manifestations of the long-gestating, newish releases with the words “Parenthetical Girls” cast somewhere inconspicuously upon them. The first of these, in order of appearance above, is our new split seven-inch with our beloved friends in the group Xiu Xiu—a semi-centennial celebration of our mutually beloved Steven Patrick Morrissey—available NOW via Upset The Rhythm (Thanks UTR!). Our contribution can be taste-tested above—a perhaps surprisingly aggressive (for us, anyway) rendition of early Smiths classic “Handsome Devil.” (The Xiu Xiu half—a cover of Moz solo weeper “I Am Hated For Loving”—also features addition vox by Zac.) These lovely platters are crafted on blue-gray wax that we’re assured is somewhere’s between beautiful & adequate (we’ve yet to actually see hair nor hide of them in the flesh, but we can scarcely wait).

Next on the descending agenda above is our new 10″, a dubious tribute to another hero entitled The Scottish Play: Wherein The Group Parenthetical Girls Pay Well-Intentioned (If Occasionally Misguided) Tribute To the Works of Ivor Cutler. Again I IMplore you to EXplore the media posted above, which—as I’m sure you can plainly see for yourself—includes a charming little commercial animated by E*Rock and utilizing the album’s David Shrigley-designed, silkscreened sleeve as inspiration, as well as a stream of the track “Doughnut In My Hand.” Limited to a ridiculous 500 physical copies, the 10″ features four songs and four prose poems as performed by Parenthetical Girls. The vinyl has been sadly delayed, but will be for sale just as soon as they show up to the Tomlab offices—we’ll keep you posted. UPDATE: 10″ now available at TOMLAB In the meantime, the tracks are presently available for digital download via a number of digital distributors, including iTunes:

In other news: We are now apparently a cover band.

In lieu of any presently concrete evidence to the contrary, I’d like to offer some hints regarding some exciting futures on the imminent horizon:

• There is new Parenthetical Girls music which is, as we speak, being pressed to vinyl. And that vinyl is labeled “Privilege“. And there’s more where that came from.

• Parenthetical Girls WILL BE completing our Christmas release this year, and it promises to be extra special.

Last (but obviously not least) piece of news: This is our new website. Giant thanks and round of applause for Mr. Ryan Gratzer for his tireless coding, and Mr. Scott Wainstock for his support. You are both a godsend.

We’re glad to be back,

Parenthetical Girls

August 28, 2009
10:20 pm

Kinds of Pain

To begin with: Thanks everyone so much for coming out to the benefit show the other day. I’ve never had so much cause to reconsider my otherwise misanthropic relationship with humanity. Good show, and good show.

More importantly: Please visit the link above for unbelievable auctions, all set to benefit the Kris Jensen Memorial Fund. Auction includes huge gift baskets donated by Kill Rock Stars, Marriage Records, States Rights Records, Audio Dregs, and Parenthetical Girls, as well as an amazing volume of MEGA RARE test pressings from K Records, and arts and services from a wide array of Northwestern luminaries. You owe it to yourself to buy some of this stuff.

Other matters of consideration include the following:

* Parenthetical Girls will still be performing at Bumbershoot on Sunday, September 6th in Seattle. We are considering this our reunion show, as it has been some time since our last performance, and stands to be the final show Matt Carlson will likely play as an official member of Parenthetical Girls. Thank you, Matt, for all that you have brought to–and generously left with–this band. It will never be the same.

* I, Zac, have written music for and will be performing as part of an experimental theater piece entitled “The Dorothy K,”–written and directed by our good friends in the Seattle-based theater company Implied Violence–which will be premiering as part of the New isLand Festival on Governor’s Island in NYC throughout the month of September. If you’re rich, pretentious, and have a strong stomach, I suggest you join us.

* We just finished shooting footage for a new video. But the song’s not altogether done yet. It’s never really been said that the music comes first with us anyway, now has it?

* We’ve got some new things coming out relatively soon, though dates are still a little fuzzy. It’s about time that we said something concrete about these matters, however.

#1: The Scottish Play: Wherein the Group Parenthetical Girls Pay Well-Intentioned (If Occasionally Misguided) Tribute to the Works of Ivor Cutler, as released by Tomlab (October?).

#2: A split seven-inch of Morrissey covers with our good friends Xiu Xiu, as released by beloved British powerhouse Upset The Rhythm.

#3: Something called Privilege. Stay Tuned.

* R.I.P., Ellie Greenwich.

All the news that fits,
Zac Pennington
Parenthetical Girls.

August 8, 2009
10:22 pm

Please visit KRIS JENSEN MEMORIAL FUND for our AMAZING art and music auction! One-of-a-Kind P.Girls wares!

UPDATE:

Jensen Family Benefit featuring Built To Spill scheduled for Sept. 17th at Neurolux in Boise, ID!

On the evening of Sunday, August 2, four members of Rachael’s immediate family were involved in a fatal car accident while traveling home from their annual family reunion. Her father and two brothers were rushed to an intensive care facility, and are now in the early stages of their recovery. Tragically, Rachael’s mother Kris Jensen, passed away.

Rose-hued and grief-sick hyperbole aside, Kris Jensen was without hesitation one of the most impossibly kind, thoughtful, beautiful, faithful, and self-less people I have ever had the privilege to know. The joy and exuberance with which Kris Jensen greeted her life and those whom it touched was something that I could almost scarcely imagine, and something that will be sorely missed by the countless people Kris had an immediate impact upon. This is the worst thing imaginable.

Beyond grief however, there are some practical matters to attend to–and I’m happy to distract myself with the illusion that there is some progress to be made in a situation like this. The accident and its medical aftermath will leave the Jensen family with a tremendous financial burden–one that we hope to help relieve. With the help of the folks in YACHT and AU, I’m presently organizing what I hope proves to be a series of benefit concerts to assist the Jensen family with their financial strain. The first of these concerts will take place in Portland on August 25th at Holocene (thank you so much, Holocene!), and will feature Yacht, Au, Copy, and May Ling ($5-$15, sliding scale). The show will also feature an Art and Service Auction as organized by the extremely talented Sarah Meadows.

There is also a plan for a benefit at the Flying M in the Jensen clan’s hometown of Nampa, ID–set to feature AU and Boise indie pop linchpin (and Rachael’s brother’s band) The Very Most–on the 29th of August. More benefits to come, I’m assured.

All proceeds from the shows and auction will benefit the Kris Jensen Memorial Fund, a trust organized to assist the surviving members of the Jensen family with the mounting financial strain of their medical care. For those unable to attend, contributions to the fund can also be made via Paypal by clicking on the following link:

All contributions are gratefully appreciated.

Thanks also to our good friends in Los Campesinos!–Kris’ favorite band– who have graciously offered to turn their August 21st performance at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles into a benefit for the family.

On behalf of the Jensen family, thank you all so much for your assistance and support during this difficult time. It really means a lot to them.

gratefully yours,
Zac Pennington
Parenthetical Girls

April 21, 2009
10:27 pm

Your Money My Life Goodbye

Apologies for the long lag in updates: our website exploded for a while, and I have no idea how to use Movable Type. Thank you very much Mr. Curt Merrill for your help.

Firstly, it is our pleasure to present to you the long-awaited (by us, anyway) digital dissemination of Parenthetical Girls’ visit to Daytrotter.

Originally recorded some six months ago–on my birthday, no less–the session features some of the “rock band” arrangements of the Entanglements songs we’ve been limping around on for the past year or so. We hope you enjoy them.

Secondly, we’re presently putting the finishing touches on a couple of new recording projects–both of which focus on re-imaginations of other people’s songs (read: covers). More details to follow when appropriate, but for the record, we’re very excited about them.

Thirdly, things are changing. Wish us luck.

xo,
(((GRRRLS)))