Tag: Wharf Cat Records

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Oh! by my group P.E. is out now. This is the last one, written and recorded 2021-2023, and mixed & mastered earlier this year at Studio Windows. It has some of my favorite songs we ever did, riding the wave from The Leather Lemon, through the rotating case of the NOPE era, and cresting into the time when “the boys” took the mic. Bill Pearis at Brooklyn Vegan penned a lovely review, writing “the group have decided to call it quits, but not before throwing one hell of a farewell party on their third and final album. It’s sad to see them go, but Oh! is a terrific way to bow out.”

We made a ton of music together since 2018 – three albums, four mixtapes, an EP, some covers and remixes, along with a bunch of stuff no one ever needs to hear… and we played a lot of fun shows too. Endless thanks to Trip & Doug at Wharf Cat Records for being such massive supporters from the very beginning. Oh! is out now (deluxe, limited, and standard edition vinyl + digital) via Wharf Cat Records.

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My group P.E. returns for our third & final album Oh! The album was announced with the lead single “Color Coordinator”, featuring Eleanor Friedberger (of the Fiery Furnaces). The track was featured on Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, Treble and more, and it was included it on Brooklyn Vegan’s Favorite Songs of the Week, Sacred Bones’ Now Playing, and Gimme Tinnitus Songs of the Summer playlists. Oh! was recorded in fits and spurts over the past few years (with most of the work done in 2022-2023), features an expanded line-up from our original quintet – along with Eleanor on “Color Coordinator”, Nick Campolo performs on and helped write many of the songs. In addition to co-writing and performing on these songs, I recorded much of it, and mixed & mastered the album earlier this year at Studio Windows. This album feels like a wonderful snapshot of the songs we were writing since The Leather Lemon, a handful of which we performed around the Northeast in 2023. Massive thanks to our longtime label Wharf Cat Records for putting this out into the world! Oh! is out October 3 on limited edition vinyl, with special and deluxe editions available as well.

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My group P.E. returns with NOPE Tapes Vol. 3, the latest (and last?) of our series of mixtapes. When we started talking last year about the series, I always pictured something like this as the goal… studio outtakes, sonic experiments, and rehearsal cut-ups stitched together into a singular psychedelic listening experience. It features contributions from A. Savage (whose new LP also comes out today), Andrya Ambro (Gold Dime), and Dan Friel (Upper Wilds) alongside the full P.E. crew. In many ways, it feels like the truest representation of the group in all its beautiful freaky forms. If you like our other albums, you’ll like this tape too. And if you like our other mixtapes (Sick Sad Fun included), you’ll LOVE this one! NOPE Tapes Vol. 3 is available now on limited-edition lime green cassette & digital.

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P.E. is back with NOPE Tapes Vol. 3! The newest mixtape was announced with the first single “SPLASH!!” – which was featured on Treble Zine (“at once danceable and abstract, a further exploration of the group’s pursuit of genreless shapes and improvisational funk creations”) and Brooklyn Vegan – and comprises studio outtakes, field recordings & sound experiments, and rehearsal cutups. I know I’m biased, but we feel this release rivals our “proper” releases Person and The Leather Lemon! NOPE Tapes Vol. 3 will be out Oct 6 on limited-edition cassette & digital via Wharf Cat Records – pre-order your copy now!

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My group P.E. is back with Volume 2 of the NOPE Tapes! This edition is once again live improvisation, and features Andrya Ambro (of Gold Dime & Talk Normal) alongside myself, Bob Jones, and Ben Jaffe. Treble Zine premiered the lead track “I Felt Something Earlier Today”, calling it “a sensory overload mix of industrial noise, sampladelic pulse and hypnotic rhythms, somewhere between the wildest moments of early no wave and experimental ’80s industrial”. We’re also hitting the road with FACS this month – check out the dates below and come hang if you’re in the Northeast! NOPE Tapes Vol. 2 is out now on Wharf Cat Records.

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P.E. is back with NOPE Tapes Vol 1! This is the first in a series of digital mixtapes, and was recorded live & totally improvised. The release and its lead track “Branding Crisis” was premiered on Brooklyn Vegan, included on Uproxx’s “Best New Indie Music” list, and featured on Stereogum, Treble, and others. The NOPE shows have been a fun way to collaborate with an extended circle of friends and to get back to the origins of P.E., and the NOPE Tapes promise to be a fun way to experiment in between “proper” releases. NOPE Tapes Vol. 1 is out now on Wharf Cat Records.

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The Leather Lemon by my group P.E. is featured on Treble Zine’s Best Albums of 2022 So Far! We’re in great company here, with another lovely write up from Jeff Terich:

They’ve since made the most of that happenstance, honing their industrial dancepunk sound into a gleaming and sleek set of razor’s edge grooves on sophomore album The Leather Lemon. The group’s penchant for experimental sounds hasn’t been smoothed over, but even as they continue to follow the thread of where their improvisation takes them, their songwriting has grown even stronger, whether on the dancefloor stomp “Contradiction of Wants” or the melancholy sophisti-pop ballad “Tears in the Rain.”

While you’re at Treble’s site, also check out this feature on Broadcast, where I wrote about Tender Buttons.

We also played a live WFMU set for Evan Funk Davies show – stream it here! The Leather Lemon is out now on Wharf Cat Records.

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The Leather Lemon – the second full-length album from my experimental electronic-pop group P.E. – is out now on Wharf Cat Records. The record was Album Of The Week on Treble Zine and at Big Love Records (in Tokyo), and it received a glowing review from Bill Pearis on Brooklyn Vegan (“their best record yet… the production is wilder, the hooks are bigger, and everything feels more confident.”). I also did a Talkhouse interview with Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, and our singer Veronica Torres was profiled on Audiofemme. I am so proud of this album – from both creative and professional standpoints, it’s simply one of the best records that I’ve ever had a hand in making. Pink, teal, and black LPs are available at record shops worldwide! The Leather Lemon is out now via Wharf Cat Records.

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“Contradiction Of Wants” is the final single from The Leather Lemon, the new record from my group P.E. Sharp-eared and detail-oriented listeners alike may recognize the seeds of “Contradiction Of Wants” from the Sick, Sad, Fun! mixtape we released with our debut LP Person. What started as a practice-space jam became an explosion of sound in its studio form, and yet another example of why you should always be recording. We’re throwing a record release show in NYC at Union Pool on March 23 with Pop 1280 and DJ A. Savage – get yr tix here! The Leather Lemon is out March 25 via Wharf Cat Records.

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P.E. – my group of electronic-pop weirdos – have announced our new album The Leather Lemon and released its first single “Blue Nude (Reclined)”. The Fader premiered the new song, calling it “soft and a little sleazy”, and the track also appeared on Stereogum (“pushing further ahead into the mutated pop side of their sound”), Brooklyn Vegan (“exploring dance music by way of post-punk and no wave”), and Treble’s “Essential Tracks” (“P.E. have some honest-to-god dancefloor bangers in them”). As I wrote in the press release, “This was one of the first songs we wrote for the new record, shortly after settling ourselves mentally and physically around the country. With all of our tour plans scrapped in the initial wave of the pandemic, the five of us decided to put our energies into writing new material for the next record, trading files back and forth in order to shape our new sound. ‘Blue Nude’ quickly became an inspiration for the rest of The Leather Lemon, something that foregrounded both the song and the sound, as fun as it was abstract.” The Leather Lemon is out March 25 on Wharf Cat Records.