the chapin sisters

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People are saying.......
PAPER MAGAZINE
"There's a sinister tenderness to this L.A. trio's sad, soft, gorgeous folk. Comprised of Abigail and Lily Chapin (daughters of children's music notable Tom, nieces of 70's legend Harry) and Jessica Craven (daughter of horror director Wes, stepdaughter of Tom), the Chapin Sisters use eerie harmonies to great effect in their meditations on love lost and losing. Their full-length debut opens with all three singing in unison "My baby hates me, and it's nobody's fault but mine." That track, "Let Me Go," sets the album's mood and tone - think suicidal. There's "Kill Me Now" for instance, a tidily cheerless number on which they implore "Don't wanna live sad and lonely, no no/ So go get a rock and just stone me." Depressing, sure, but cathartic in a neurasthenic sort of way too - there's something enjoyable about the way the sisters spread their misery. Standouts include "Can't We Please," an appeal to an ex-boyfriend for mercy ("My demons they dance/ On the bones of our romance"); "Don't Love You," in which they inform a potential suitor that, despite how they might act, they're not really interested in love, they're probably just drunk; and "Girlfriend" where they repeatedly explain to a crush how they "Don't like your girlfriend." The stories marry well to their elegant balladry, and the sisters' neo-Victorian sensibilities add up to a lingering, almost ghostly result. This is after-dark music that's meant to creep you out. And it does." -Jonathan Durbin
LA WEEKLY
"The Chapin Sisters harmonize with such lush and entrancingly beautiful three-part harmonies that it's easy to overlook their dark side. The local trio first came to attention in 2005 with their somberly icy version of "Toxic," discovering the bittersweet melody that lurked underneath Britney Spears' pop hit, and they similarly turned Madonna's fluffy "Borderline" into a banjo-plucked, achingly lonely country ballad. The Chapins are just as captivating with their own memorable original songs on their debut full-length CD, Lake Bottom LP, on Plain Recordings (which follows two earlier EPs). The waves of sumptuous harmonies that sweep through "Kill Me Now" belie the song's sad lyrics, and those febrile voices twine together soothingly and hauntingly on Abigail Chapin's "I Hate the Moon." Lily Chapin is more down to earth on the homespun charms of "Wash Away," while Jessica Craven's spare, acoustic-guitar-driven "Don't Love You" floats away with an airy melody. It's a family affair: The title Lake Bottom LP celebrates the Chapins' familial connections — their uncle was the late Harry Chapin, Lily's and Abigail's father is the singer Tom Chapin, and their half-sister Jessica is the daughter of horror-film maestro Wes Craven." -Falling James
POPMATTERS.COM
"Like (Chan) Marshall, they haunt the interstices of folk, pop, and blues, and play seductive games with the knife-edge of heartache. Their soft harmonies and dark sidelong lyrics fit perfectly into a new folk aesthetic that is more twisted than freaky... There’s a toughness about these songs that rings very true to the blues tradition, even if the words and stories have a modern feel to them. These are girls who don’t love you, they hate your girlfriend, they don’t even like the moon, but they can be hurt, and badly, too. Just don’t expect them to sit around moping about it. More likely they’ll write a song and set their rage into swooning harmonies and achingly pretty folk melodies. Then you’ll be sorry."- Jennifer Kelly
EAST BAY EXPRESS
If Dr. Moreau could combine DNA from Dolly Parton and Nick Drake, he might come up with the Chapin Sisters ... and I mean that in the best possible way. -Mark Keresman
LA.COM
Neither postured nor precious, The Chapin Sisters are a triple-siren seduction of stunning folk harmonies, royal-lineage storytelling, and unapologetic femininity.
For the past five weeks these indie folkster voodoo angels have taken up Monday night residency at The Echo, bringing us music from a focused, far off, deep place that sounds both collectively natural and wholly inimitable.
Abigail, Lily and Jessica opened the final Echo show on Monday night, sans fanfare, with a mournful and eerie “Sea Shanty,” accompanied only by a measured, hypnotic, foot clicking. The result, as you might imagine, was paranormal. I’m fairly certain at least one person turned into a frog.
The packed room stood for about an hour, fully entranced by the unflinching, neo-prairie princesses. And it wasn’t “girlpower” that had them hooked. What these ladies are peddling is something much more commanding, far more subtle and a great deal more significant.
Their live reconstruction of “Let Me Go,” the first track off their March 18 release Lake Bottom Lp (Plain Recordings / Manimal), was an unexpected confessional; sounding almost prayer-like in its assertions. Painfully pretty, it’s hard to tell whether the lyrics are meant sarcastically (which would make them evil geniuses), or honestly (which would make them evil geniuses). Either way it’s a song that lingers; surprisingly catchy and effortlessly haunting.
“Shady River” was another stand out number with a melody that edged towards cheery, but steered suspiciously into a batch of dark clouds every time it felt followed. With their drummer on tour, the ladies took up tambourine duty on many of the songs, and also called upon some violin mavens to help fill in the sound.
At one point, the stage held five gorgeous and gifted women who appeared to be transmitting a complex message about peaceful solidarity through floral dresses and wedge sandals via an inaudible, mystery frequency. The whatever waves soothed the attending ladies and utterly disarmed the men folk.
They ended the set in a perfect-fit collaboration with the rootsy, Americana outfit, I See Hawks In L.A. The Lily-penned “Palm Tree,” was an absolute model of dusty, alt folk pop, while the cover of Crystal Gayle’s “Why Have You Left The One You Left Me For” was taught a lesson in country rock.
As elegant, leggy, branches of the folk family tree, The Chapin Sisters are fulfilling their destiny, poised with hellbent harmonies and majestic moodiness. Pretty, powerful and innate, the second coming is a trio. -Lisa Brenner
JAMBASE.COM
Rolling out with the otherworldly beauty of antique folk and simmering '70s folk-rock, The Chapin Sisters' debut full-length are like Maddy Prior singing honey harmonies with Linda Ronstadt and Shannon McNally with the added delicious synchronicity of sibling resonance. Lake Bottom (released March 18 on Plain Recordings) is a melancholy haul, sad music that makes you grin a little.
Happy records don't begin by saying, "My baby hates me and it's nobody's fault but mine/ He says he'd leave me but he's sure is taking his time." A few cuts later on "Kill Me Now" they proclaim, "You've ruined my life/ Don't defend it/ Just go get a knife and please end it." What's cool about the Chapins is how they take such funereal material and make it glow and tumble in ways that keep Lake Bottom from being a folksy Bauhaus. This is endlessly lovely and all three ladies - Abigail, Lily and Jessica - have a complexity and ingenuous prettiness to their singing that's nigh irresistible. The trio has contributed vocals to recordings by Vetiver, Lavender Diamond, Gary Louris and others, and it isn't hard to see where their presence gives a significant lift to any recording. Here, in their own setting, things are spare and exposed, immediate as a campfire hootenanny if said hoot took place on the ivy covered steps of a country castle.
Producers Thom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Vetiver) and Mike Daly (Whiskeytown, Grace Potter) keeps things clean and roomy. The ladies' voices soar with some nice ceiling and the largely acoustic instrumentation hits with bright clarity in these tales of dancing demons and hateful moons. Well sung, well played and well written, Lake Bottom is a lovely, engaging first salvo from these very talented sisters. -Dennis Cook