Girl Friday
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Girl Friday

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"BABYSUE"

"Swimmer is a cool batch of tunes from an up-and-coming New York band. These three individuals (Amanda Dora, Byron Isaacs, Konrad Meissner) aren't following current trends. These tunes could just as easily have been written and recorded in the 1980s or 1990s. The band's tunes are simple, yet ultimately hummable. These folks show considerable restraint in their playing, allowing their lyrics and melodies to shine. Ms. Dora has a beautiful voice which is the centerpiece of this group's sound. Whereas most groups with a female vocalist tend to sound very much like some other group with a female vocalist...this is not the case here. Girl Friday is a refreshing change from the norm. The band's tunes are upbeat and hummable as Hell. Thought provoking cuts include 'Give Over,' 'Make My Peace,' 'Meadow Song,' and 'Don't Know Anything.' Upbeat and rather exhilarating." - LMNOP


"TROUSER PRESS"

"Girl Friday's debut album is an eclectic affair. Rather than swear allegiance to one particular stylistic flag, this Brooklyn-based trio ranges from blissed-out shoegazing to spiky power pop, incorporating nuances of psychedelia, reggae and folk along the way. "Leave No Worry Here" evokes My Bloody Valentine's lush, trippy melodicism (with Amanda Dora's vocals even bearing a passing resemblance to Bilinda Butcher's); beautiful Stereolab-style sing-song harmonies distinguish the trumpet-adorned "Lost"; "Worthy" could be PJ Harvey in a pastoral mood; and "Make My Peace" gives some dubby breathing space to its indie-rock drive. More than just a multi-faceted collection of tunes, many of these tracks also display a refreshing degree of internal variety and complexity. In particular, Girl Friday shows that beardy progsters don't have a monopoly on shifting time signatures, changing tempos and inventive song structures, and that such things can produce economical, attractive results. Records that refuse to declare a unified sonic identity often lack coherence, but Swimmer doesn't fall into that trap; the strength of the songwriting is the unifying thread here." - Wilson Neate


"INDIE MUSIC"

"The note that accompanied Girl Friday's debut album, Swimmer said, " ... here's the CD for your listening pleasure!" A pleasure indeed. As I often do when I write reviews, I tried to listen to just the first few phrases of each tune. It was impossible. Instead, I found myself listening intently to each track, taking notes, writing down impressions and images. When I find myself so completely absorbed, I know I'm listening to a great band.

This group is destined for big things. Fronted by singer-guitarist Amanda Dora and backed by Texans Byron Isaacs on bass and Konrad Meissner on drums, this rock trio is making waves in New York City's Lower East Side club scene. Their sound is clean, even when they're "punking it up" in power ballads like "Give Over" and "Ravaged." Other times, hard-edged guitar solos are intermingled with dreamy, spacey chord inversions, producing a sound I can only call ambient alternative rock.

Throughout this album, the band has a huge sound, no doubt due to producer Pete Keppler's well-tuned ear. Keppler produced this album after he had just come off tour doing live sound for David Bowie. Amanda Dora's melancholic vocal style is haunting on "Lost" and always touches the emotions - this gal can sing. She turns on the sultry approach to lure you in on "Worthy," then takes off into a punchy chorus. She soars on "Ravaged," showing us that there is some real power in those vocal cords. Swimmer is a trip through an emotional mindscape, a succession of musical images, each different, yet blending into a panoramic cinematic sound that makes every cut a standout."
- Kenny Hart


"FAKE JAZZ"

"The self-released debut from this NYC trio features a heady mix of punky power pop (particularly opener 'Give Over'), torchy jazz ballads and soul searching confessionals. Numerous friends provide harmony vocals throughout, which opens the sound considerably, giving the sonic appearance of a much larger band. On first listen, 'Worthy' appears to use a sultry Gwen Stefani approach to rope the No Doubt fans in, but it thankfully proceeds to put everything in their catalogue to shame. 'Alone' is the best (unintentional, I am sure) impersonation of Delores O Riordan and The Cranberries I have heard yet, but do not let that scare you off. Its wistful, swaying melody and gentle harmonies (from David Bowie’s bassist, Gail Ann Dorsey) combine to make it the perfect choice for lead single and deserves heavy college radio airplay. I swear I detected a hint of Karen Carpenter’s angelic sighs in 'Dont Know Anything' and the strings are definitely a winning embellishment, as are Sean McCaul’s vibes and John Caban’s impressive wailing solos on the title track, a dreamy, psychedelic headswirler that, like this impressive debut, merits repeated listens."
- Jeff Penczak


"75 OR LESS"

"Listening to this album made me move several other CDs into the "I'm sorry, but you’re not good enough to get a review" pile. Girl Friday's hypnotic rock sound elicits comparisons to K's Choice and Cat Power. At least from me. From "Give Over," a mesmerizing track encouraging the listener to find "the sweet inheritance of life," to "100 Miles," a ponderous meditation on getting beat down by the man (at least as I interpret it), the entire record deserves to be heard." - Meredith


"LUCID CULTURE"

"This band is creeper. Their songs sneak up on you when you least expect them. Sonically, they’re your basic indie rock: guitar with a dirty, unprocessed sound, bass and drums. But the songs are not. They’re very intelligent, very crystallized and when you think about it, very catchy, with something of a minimalist sensibility. They seem to be written deliberately for repeated listening. If that’s the band’s intent, they succeed. The hooks often appear unexpectedly, in places other than the front of the chorus, the turnaround or the opening of the song. Sometimes they flare up and then disappear. But they’re all over the place, and there are so many of them it’s hard to count.

Singer/guitarist Amanda Dora didn’t waste a note all night. Her vocals were casual, conversational and completely unaffected. The songs themselves remind very strongly of the late, great Scout, at the very end when they were off their brief garage rock tangent. Girl Friday evokes the same nebulous melancholia, but without the occasional Beatlisms. And they also pick up the pace with riff-driven, punchy garage rock to liven things up. Dora plays mostly with downstrokes, adding to the percussive flavor of much of their material. On one song, the bass player began the song with a reflective stroll which he took using a slide, playing through a reverb box, and continued to carry the melody through to the end. On another, Dora began with an incisive, midtempo staccato hook on the verse, but when the chorus kicked in, the band went to 6/8 time, cranked it up to a crescendo and suddenly they had an anthem.

Girl Friday were completing a Monday residency here and invited a couple of special guests up to join them toward the end of the set. Briana Winter impressed the most with a ridiculously catchy 4-chord pop song that she delivered passionately and effortlessly while the band wailed behind her.

Props to Lakeside for giving them a residency and a chance to play for a crowd who would probably never see them on the Ludlow Street strip. While they’re pretty far removed from the usual Lakeside twang (Girl Friday clang and crunch instead), they share an intelligence and dedication to craftsmanship with the best of the crowd who play here. If their forthcoming album is anything like what they sounded like tonight, it should be killer." - live show review June 2007


"PRESS INQUIRIES"

(646) 290-6449
perry@goodcoppr.com - Please contact Perry Serpa at Good Cop PR


"SPLENDID MAGAZINE"

"If ever there was a textbook written on how to demonstrate composure and restraint while writing and performing a rock album in today's crowded market, Girl Friday definitely have a well worn copy of it. Swimmer is a razor-sharp collection that thrives on songwriting economy; each of its eleven tunes is leaner and less wasteful than the one that preceded it. The most impressive thing about Girl Friday is how unconcerned they are with impressing anyone. These songs, masterfully sung by Amanda Dora, are content to be lean and linear, never once dipping into showy excess, ill advised genre mixing, or other familiar songwriting pitfalls.

Dora's calm voice is the key element; her spot-on backing band takes its lead from her vocals' casual mellowness. Dora almost never raises her voice beyond a careful throb, and the music, in turn, pushes the volume and energy only as much as needed to move the songs forward. "Make My Peace"'s Portishead-like lyrics give way to a forceful chorus of male/female harmonies, but it's the promise of an explosion, rather than any actual distracting fires, that will keep you enthralled."

- Philip Stone


Discography

Girl Friday 2006 (EP)
Swimmer 2005 (LP)

Photos

Bio

Amidst legions of bands that play the Lower East Side clubs in New York City, Girl Friday stands out as one to watch. Fronted by charismatic singer-guitarist Amanda Dora, who hails from the Midwest, and backed by Texan natives Byron Isaacs on bass and Konrad Meissner on drums, this rock trio is steadily gaining a cult following. While doing session work as a cellist, Amanda started writing a group of songs that would eventually become the nucleus of Girl Friday’s first record, Swimmer. She met Byron and Konrad through mutual friends and the three have been making trouble together ever since.

Released on their own Get Fresh Records in 2005, Swimmer features songs who's themes range from personal, and at times confessional, to social and universal. Its sonic landscapes draw as much inspiration from the immediacy of indie rock bands like The Arcade Fire as they do from the aggressive energy of artists like PJ Harvey. Producer Pete Keppler, just off tour doing live sound for David Bowie, recorded the album with the band over the course of a year. Pete’s production and Hector Castillo's nuanced mixes showcase the band's skillful playing and surging arrangements, as well as Amanda’s stirring, earthy vocals, which reach deep into the emotional heart of the listener.

Building on the momentum of Swimmer's critical acclaim and national radio play, culminating in an interview broadcast nationally on NPR, Girl Friday is wrapping up work on their second full length record set for release later this year. The band toured last summer behind a three song EP which showcases a leaner, meaner sound while still featuring their lush three-part harmonies and plan to head out west this fall for another tour.