CVZ Premieres: You Do You New Single "Ours"

If you love Phish, the B-52s, and Janis Joplin, then it’s time you checked out Philly locals You Do You. Since 2012, Katie Feeney and her accompanying band of jazz musicians have been producing 70s-inspired dance and funk tunes and performing all around the city. What sets You Do You apart from their musical influences is their contemporary lyrical themes based on Katie’s experience as an environmental activist. You Do You’s latest songs are teeming with the frustration and struggle of passing climate change legislation in today’s political hellscape, but they’re still poised with optimism and strength.

The new record Funky Dinos, a political concept album, comes out this September. To prepare for its release, CVZ is proud to present the single “Ours.” It’s a soul romp into self-awareness complete with goosebump-raising flute solos. We recommend watching the band perform this tune live at Kung Fu Necktie at the link below for the whole experience; You Do You’s electric stage presence makes their music come alive. Stay tuned to their Instagram @youdoyoumusic for more live show dates and release information. “Ours” was recorded at Sleepless Sound Studios and Retro City Studios, and was engineered by Brendan McGeehan and Vince Tampio. The track features Katie Feeney on vocals, Drew Parker on guitar, Alex Baranowsi on bass, Aaron Boczkowski on drums, Vince Tampio on trumpet, Gabe Preston on sax, and Benjamin James on keys.

Blushing for Blushed

The day I met Blushed in South Philly for this interview, it was pouring rain. And the bar we had agreed upon was closed, unexpectedly. Bassist Alyssa Milman and I huddled under an awning, frantically texting the group chat, trying to stay dry while we chose a new meeting spot. I’m glad we settled on the Pope, or Pub on Passyunk East, because ultimately, I couldn’t have imagined a better setting for our chat. The Pope is a South Philly classic dive, complete with old wooden booths, neon bar signs, and the ultimate draw: half-price happy hour drafts. It wasn’t the beer that kept our conversation flowing, however. It was this group’s generosity and boundless passion.

What I was most surprised to learn about Blushed is that, from a technical standpoint, these musicians are new to their craft. Blushed is the first project in which Paper Scissors Media founder Matty Klauser has ever played drums, and that Kississippi guitarist Alyssa Millman has ever played bass. It’s Missy Pigeon’s first time ever fronting a band, and Dan Leinweber’s first experience contributing lead guitar on a band of this scale. Matty sums it up best by saying “no one is on their main shit.”

Listening to their most recent release, I Love You So Much It Hurts, one could never tell these musicians weren’t born with their individual instruments in their hands. Blushed casts aside traditional songwriting for something more intuitive and organic. What they lack in technicality, they more than make up for in ingenuity. Their music is the visual art equivalent of modernism: a rejection of what’s been done before in the spirit of creating something more visceral and pure.

Most of Blushed’s songs are written by Missy, who brings the shell of a song to the band to fill out. The process is wholly collaborative at that point. Alyssa, Dan, and Matty all have classical music backgrounds, but tend to cast aside the rules when writing for Blushed. The spirit of the band’s songwriting comes from Missy’s “intuitive simplicity,” as Matty describes it. Alyssa writes their bass parts by ear; they say they “move it around, slide it until I like how it sounds.” Dan is also an unconventional lead guitarist in the sense that his solos are humble but striking. “Dan’s solos are like a few well-placed notes and an apology,” jokes Matty.

Since forming in 2016, Blushed has been on a steady upward trajectory. They all remember what it felt like to play empty rooms--there was once a gig so small it didn’t even have its own PA or drumset--but those days are now far behind them. Their EP release show on February 13th at Boot & Saddle was full of fans eager to hear new music. It’s also not uncommon to tune into WXPN’s local show and hear a Blushed tune. In 2019, the band reached a local music milestone: recording a Key Studio Session with John Vettese. The future looks bright for this powerful foursome based in South Philly. You can stream I Love You So Much It Hurts produced by Good How Are You Records on Spotify and Bandcamp now. And do yourself a favor by coming out to one of their upcoming Philly dates. Stay tuned to @blushedband on Instagram for details. Also, @cherryveenzine because we sure won’t miss a chance to see these friends do their thing.

No, Scantron is Not A City In Pennsylvania

I know this is an EP review, but I need to start this off explaining to you just how much I LOVE seeing Scantron play live. Playing comes as naturally to them as breathing, and the songs they write are so… RIGHT that they seem like they’ve always existed. Like Scantron picked them out of the universe and are playing them for our happy ears to hear. When you love a band’s live performance this much, the bar is set pretty high for their recorded music. And for years, Scantron has been known for their tight, lo-fi recordings that perfectly capture the energy and vibes of their live show. Their latest EP, Electric City, continues the streak. James Everhart, vocalist and guitarist for the band, talked to us about the new songs that were written during a transitional phase of his life, and what the decision to take the recording session from his living room into a studio.

I love that Scantron songs are about whatever the fuck Jimmy wants to write about. There are so many break-up songs, make-up songs, love songs, what are we? songs etc. But Scantron is all over the place. Jimmy explains, “Scantron EPs never usually have underlying themes simply because we aim to write songs that can stand alone as singles rather than as parts of a whole. With that being said, these tunes were written at a time when I was feeling particularly angsty and vulnerable as I transitioned into a new career and lifestyle after my time on the road.”

"These tunes were written at a time when I was feeling particularly angsty and vulnerable as I transitioned into a new career and lifestyle after my time on the road.”

The EP starts with Dreams, a song about “desire, regret and resilience.”  It has such a heavy feel to it, almost like trudging through a difficult time only to break through to a lighter sound in the end.  The song transitions into my personal favorite, Tip Top Inn. The guitar riff on the song just makes me feel cool.  Jimmy tells us that the song is his own version of Lloyd Price’s Stagger Lee, “I felt [it] deserved a modern twist.  It quite literally and metaphorically addressed the back-stabbing nature of show business juxtaposed with the harshness of real life.”  I’d say it’s pretty relatable content. Side B starts off with White Linen Sheets, a song that must have been written for me, personally. It is about Jimmy’s greatest challenge: falling asleep.  It is “a playful song that serves as my ode to anytime one cannot fall asleep because their mind is restless.” He’s telling the story of my life here.  In There, Out There, which finishes off the EP. It’s big, it’s fun, we love it. 

"It quite literally and metaphorically addressed the back-stabbing nature of show business juxtaposed with the harshness of real life.”

Until now, Scantron has always recorded right at home, in Jimmy’s living room. This time, they made the move to Drowning Fish Studio, working with engineers, Davis Shubs and Will Donnelly. The change was seamless. The new tunes still have that classic Scantron feeling, just with a little more polish. The decision to leave the living room was mostly business, “Since much of my music is used for television shows like Ozark, The Flash and other Netflix titles, I decided to go with higher production value, but maintained a fully live band performance to capture lightning in a bottle.” They’ve done an incredible job on this one, we’re so excited for you to hear it!

Listen to Electric City here!