Parenthetical Girls profile picture

Parenthetical Girls

N. America's Most Reverent & Moving Musical Group.

About Me

BOOKING
Trey Many at Billions (US)
Andreas Oberschelp at Puschen Booking (Europe)
PRESS INQUIRES:
Daniel Gill of Forcefield PR
Begun as a home recording project amongst former childhood friends in the failed mill town of Everett, Washington (a place considerably less romantic than that manipulative phrasing is meant to suggest), the membership of Parenthetical Girls—in mutual disinterest and indifference—quietly chipped away at itself until only one particularly under-qualified member, singer and relative non-musician Zac Pennington, remained. As long on ambition as he was short on musical aptitude, Pennington willed what was little more than a particularly arduous band name into a recording partnership with some of his especially capable acquaintances—namely The Dead Science’s Jherek Bischoff and Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart. That partnership became a record called (((GRRRLS))) (2004), released on Pennington’s newly-christened vanity label, Slender Means Society.
Soon after Pennington moved to Portland, Parenthetical Girls became something of an actual band—though mostly in the non-committal sense: comprised first of (a much-indebted) Pennington, Bischoff, and Bischoff’s Dead Science-mate Sam Mickens, and eventually just Pennington and Mickens. This core trio would ultimately produce Safe As Houses (2006), a record that would go on to critical acclaim, and countless flattering—if sometimes greatly overstated—Xiu Xiu comparisons.
Following the release of Safe As Houses, the band fatefully settled on a more stable line-up, adding to its ranks several recent Portland imports in Matt Carlson, Rachael Jensen, and Eddy Crichton—multi-instrumentalists each—whose full-time membership would eventually help to shape Parenthetical Girls in their own respective images. After several lengthy tours in the U.S. and Europe in support of Safe As Houses, the four piece convened to begin preparations for what would by leaps and bounds be the group’s most ambitious work to date. Making good use of his fancy degree in composition, Carlson in particular would prove especially pivotal in this pursuit, who—along with Bischoff’s long-essential production and arrangement work—would help to realize the Technicolor potential long implicit in the (((GRRRLS)))’s earlier works.
ENTANGLEMENTS will be released on Sept. 9th, 2008 via Tomlab & Slender Means Society.
JUNE 27TH, 2006
PARENTHETICAL GIRLS-Safe As Houses:
Recorded with the bands recent three-piece configuration (an ensemble made up of Zac Pennington and Dead Science members Sam Mickens and Jherek Bischoff--who also served as producer for the record), "Safe As Houses" embraces the groups shrewd attention to the awkward confluence of experimental and pop musics--creating a record that is at once more difficult and more intrinsically palatable (not to mention significantly darker) than anything so far bearing the Parenthetical Girls name. Which is to say, its much better.
Order CD online RIGHT HERE
Order LP online RIGHT HERE
APRIL 25TH, 2006
PARENTHETICAL GIRLS-(((GRRRLS))): Reissued, Repackaged, Remastered.
In anticipation of the release of Safe As Houses--the sprawling follow-up to (((GRRRLS))) tentatively scheduled for a June release-- Slender Means Society is issuing (((GRRRLS))) on CD for the first time, in remastered, yet equally confusing format.
In an attempt to maintain the distinct duality of the LP release, the CD version of (((GRRRLS))) features both editions of the album--but in two different, enhanced CD formats: version O (as mixed by Jherek Bischoff) plays on any standard CD player like your average CD should, while the X version (as mixed by Jamie Stewart), takes advantage of the near ubiquity of the iPod revolution by offering its tracks as super high quality MP3s, accessible via any computer. (Confused? Me too. Just put it in your computer--you'll figure it out). Additionally, the enhanced materials feature "Inspirational Shortpants (avec paroles)," a newly finished track not available on the original vinyl release.
Order it online RIGHT HERE

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/21/2006
Band Website: slendermeanssociety.com/parenthetical/
Band Members: Matt Carlson
Eddy Crichton
Rachael Jensen
Zac Pennington

And Sometimes Y:

Jherek Bischoff
Sam Mickens

Influences: Popular Music.
Sounds Like: Very Popular Music.
Record Label: Tomlab. Slender Means Society.
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

(((GRRRLS)))/David Horvitz Picture Disc Now Available.

Dear Consumers--The brand spankin' new Parenthetical Girls/David Horvitz picture disc is now available via Aagoo Records. The disc features two new recordings (one per side, as it happens): a misleadi...
Posted by Parenthetical Girls on Wed, 21 May 2008 12:58:00 PST

A Rough Guide To Xmas.

The holiday season just feels a little hollow to me in absence of a catch-all concept gift to give everyone whom I can't actually afford to expend earnest thought upon. And so, as promised, I'd like t...
Posted by Parenthetical Girls on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:42:00 PST