LIVE AT 12:00 P.M. CDT
The story of Agent Ribbons has not one - but many - beginnings, and fashioning some semblance of chronology from their cut-and-paste four-year history is an art project in and of itself. Originally hailing from the shanty-Victorian streets
of downtown Sacramento, they now reside in Austin, TX when they aren't traveling the world and jamming econo. Usually, you'll experience them as a three piece, but they are also known to keep it simple with the original two-piece guitar, drums, and vocals line up. In either case, they almost always catch crowds off-guard with their live rawness, bringing both an honest minimalism and unapologetic theatricality to their live shows.
Agent Ribbons isn't just a band - it's a tree house club of post-feminist dreamers trying to find their place in the scheme of things, like a hand-sewn and lovingly-crafted garment in a modern, disposable world. Listening to everything from Eartha Kitt to the Velvet Underground and taking notes from bands like The Shaggs, The Boswell Sisters and the Zombies, they miraculously reconcile seemingly unrelated genres, sounding something like Girls in the Garage doing the Three Penny Opera. Waxing sentimental over the eerie beauty of all things lost to time, the emphasis is undoubtedly in the lyrics, which favor clever turns of phrase and occasional humor, but never at the expense of the melodic integrity of their catchy, memorable songs.
Since 2007, the band has toured the U.S. more times than they can remember. Some of those tours were with big national acts like Camera Obscura, Cake, Detroit Cobras and Girl In A Coma, and the rest were done vigilante-style in a Chevy Astro.
Despite having been banned in the UK in 2008, they have an ever-increasing presence in Europe and in 2009, released a popular vinyl seven inch with Acuarela Discos in Europe and Japan entitled "Your Love is the Smallest Doll".
Agent Ribbons will finally be releasing their forthcoming sophomore album "Chateau Crone" this fall on Oakland-based Antenna Farm records. The album was recorded with Manny Neito in Los Angeles (The Breeders, HEALTH) and with Scott McChane at The Hangar in Sacramento, CA (Tape-Op Magazine) in both digital and analog formats over the course of a year. With delicate violin arrangements, noisy dissonant tangents, Spector-esque vocal harmonies and clever melodic phrasing, the album cannot commit to a genre but always manages to sound like the same brand of baroque pop.
Each copy of Chateau Crone comes with a 24 page full-color booklet all about their future dream estate, where they can grow old together in a supportive, artistic atmosphere outside the realms of society's oppresive expectations of aging women. For other aspiring Chateau Cronies that share their witchy, Golden Girls dream, the album also comes with a full color temporary tattoo donning the official crest of Chateau Crone.
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