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IO PERRY has a soft, yet sweet, whispery voice. Her songs have a quiet, shy quality. Nice harmonies and pleasing melodies but there's a certain lo-fi sound. She's very cute with her lyrics and really has a sweetness for the tune while she sings. Someone else might think she's off her tune or not right on the notes as she sings, but that's just her style and it sounds really good once you realize you've listened to the whole song. [Rebecca Hill] - Rebecca Hill
You might recognize Io Perry as the especially melodic bassist with such disparate local bands as the Green & Yellow TV, Project K, and Tito & Tarantula. Perhaps you recall that the one tune she sings with Project K — the airy confection “Lullaby,” which closes the band’s 2001 debut Bong Load CD, Testing Underway — announced the presence of a gifted tunesmith and charming singer. Her first solo album, 2005’s Greybay (produced by the Plugz’s Tito Larriva), confirmed her talent, but her upcoming CD, Split Yourself in Two, is even better. “Everyday” is a catchy, Pixies-style fuzz-rocker, while the glassy, delicate “Valentine” and the wistful “44 Hundred Miles” are gently intoxicating ballads. “Honeybee” is a sugary pop rush adorned with new-wave keyboard beeps, and Perry is softly beguiling amid the echoing chords and shimmering harmonies of “I Will Let You Down.” Tonight’s free show is a great opportunity to catch up with one of this town’s most quietly promising singers. (Falling James)
- Falling James-pick
"Greybay"
by Io Perry
a Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds
Io Perry has a soft whispery voice. The songs have a quiet, shy quality. Nice harmonies and pleasing melodies with a certain lo-fi sound.
"I'll Pick You Up" is a sweet sleepy little tune that somehow sounds very British to me. This is my favorite track, today anyway.
"Saturday" is one that is especially lo-fi sounding as you can almost hear the crackle as if it were a record. I mean a "real" record, on vinyl.
"Not What it Seems" utilizes more instruments for a more full sound.
These songs have that quality where you hear them a few times, think 'hey, these are nice' but then next time you hear it you go, 'oh I really like this song!' Almost like it's an old friend.
If you are in the mood for what I feel is comfortable Sunday morning music, this is a good bet.
Posted on April 25, 2006
Comments: - Amy Lotsberg
io Perry's bio describes her latest album Greybay as "seductively cold and sweetly sad with liberating bursts of infatuation and bitterness." I call it beautifully lazy and perfect for a Sunday afternoon of do-nothingness. Read the paper, kick your legs over the side of a comfy chair, and bounce your shoulders in time with the music.
I'll Pick You Up (mp3)
Saturday (mp3)
Buy io Perry's full-length Greybay here and be her MySpace friend. Because everyone likes making friends.
- Sara Melphy
"...a pleasantly laid back new pop album." - LA weekly jan 6-12 /2005
"Charming and delicate songs made with honesty and grace."
- Gregg LaGambina
Most people who read this site know I have a fine appreciation for all things indie pop. It's like crack to me. A few days ago I got Split Yourself In Two - the latest album from Los Angeles songstress IO Perry in the mail. I listened to the record as I ran errands today. No less than 10 seconds into CD I realized this site has been severely ignoring Indie Pop's lovable cousin - POWER POP.
Split Yourself In Two is IO's second solo album. The record is sweet yet moody and loaded with crunchy guitars and swoonworthy harmonies. "Honeybee" is a delightful song with a chorus straight out of a 1960s Sears in-store playlist. The tracks on Split Yourself In Two perfectly show the two sides of IO's personality and are a pleasant reminder that Power Pop isn't dead yet. I highly recommend taking a listen to the two tracks above.
Split Yourself In Two is available on iTUNES.
- rock insider,music and life in L.A by Jax
please visit myspace.com/ioperry to see the review translated to English. - one of Germany's best magazines
Many know io Perry as the bass player of Tito & Tarantula. Since two years she plays solo and is now on a tour through Europe. On Wednesday Io Perry struck very different notes with her guitar. With a surprising deep voice she combined sentimental ballads and rock’n’roll melodies and created a varied concert program. Always present: her headstrong but pleasing style which shows to advantage especially in the fast songs. The first songs she played alone then her guitar player Jason supported Io Perry on stage by adding another tone color to the pieces of music. - see original review of Ahlen show by visitng ioperry.de
June 8-14 2006( NBNE issue)
Greybay NNN=SIZZLING
IO Perry has a penchant for ending verses on an awkward major seventh or a slightly uncomfortable suspended note. On their own, these details can come off as sloppy mistakes, but repeated over the course of a song (or an entire album), Perry's particular sonic choices add an off-kilter slant to Greybay that makes the L.A.-based Toronto expat's jagged-edge tunes far more engaging. She alternates between the crunchy power chords of post-grunge pop and the fragile melodies of late-90s indie poster girls like Bettie Serveert's Carol van Dijk, murmuring disconnected lyrics that are more floating thoughts than fleshed-out stories. Perry could stand to focus more on her writing, but you can almost overlook the lyrical content due to Tito Larriva's expert mix and production, which forces you to listen closely for the subtle hints of Petra Haden's mandolin plunks and quivering viola.
Perry plays the Art Bar tonight (Thursday, June 8) at 10 pm as part of NXNE.
Sarah Liss - Sarah Liss
Discography
-Old Hickory: Other Eras Such as Witchcraft, A&M Records
-Project K: Testing Underway, Bong Load Records
-The Green and Yellow TV: Scarecrow Museum EP, Records Records; As Performed by The Green and Yellow TV, Records Records
-Tito and Tarantula: Andalucia, BMG Europe
-io Perry: Greybay, Jupiter x Records
-io Perry: Split Yourself in Two
Photos
Bio
The product of an unmarried hippy couple in Toronto, io Perry's happiest memories involve being raised in a barn while under the care of her starving artist father. Her alternative grade school's curriculum mainly entailed listening to Beatles records, which, although preventing a career in rocket science, did manage to keep her interest and inspire a love of music. As she grew, she supplemented her force-fed Fab Four diet with Nirvana, The Cure, Meat Puppets and the Pixies.
Having moved from Toronto to Montreal to New York, she settled in Los Angeles in 1996, where she has played for such bands as A&M Records' Old Hickory, Project K and The Green and Yellow TV. After years of touring Europe as hired bass player for hard-edged cult sensations Tito and Tarantula, io has now released herself into the wild and picked up the six string in search of her own style.
Her debut cd, Greybay (produced by former bandmate Tito Larriva) is seductively cold and sweetly sad with liberating bursts of infatuation and bitterness. While embracing the intimate moodiness of her previous album, Greybay, Split Yourself in Two, has an added enraged-yet-poppy atmosphere that complements her meeker, doe-eyed side. Split Yourself in Two is aptly named because the artist has successfully bisected herself into a brace of distinct sensitive singer/songwriters who alternately vie for your attention while blending themselves into one lush, powerful, musical entity. Io Perry's new cd, "Sailor's Wave," contains her usual sweet, whispery, angst-ridden lullabies while adding a pounding, angry sarcasm that jumps at us straight from her punk rock roots. The effect created is a powerful blend of gentle and rough unrequited love songs, pumped through to us with the calculated brilliance that can only truly emerge from a mercilessly trampled heart.
The song, Valentine, from Split Yourself in Two was featured in an recent episode of the Cartoon Networks cult classic, Moral Orel, a stop-animation show on Adult Swim. The song, Saturday, off of Greybay was also used in season two of Moral Orel.
Io Perry will be touring Italy, Germany and the Netherlands with her ex-Project K bandmate, Greg Kay, and her father, an artist from Nova Scotia, who will be painting behind thetwo-piece band as they perform songs from Io's new cd, "Sailor's Wave." Come take a Europeon vacation and support them!
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