Religious Girls is an experimental pop band from Oakland, California that originated in 2008. They’ve released several praised EPs and gained a dedicated following with their dynamic live sets (often performing off the stage in the middle of the pit). They haven’t released any music since 2012, and their fans are highly anticipating hearing new music. The Stranger poetically explain Religious Girls unique sound and its powerful effect on the listener:
“combining frantic live drums with layered synth textures and expressive howls, the band creates a magical space for my thoughts to wander in public, directed by otherworldly sounds.”
Religious Girls has become a diverse trio of multi-instrumentalists, with each member hailing from separate musical backgrounds that range from metal to noise to math rock and pop. The band's current line-up consists of keyboardist / lead vocalist Christopher Danko, keyboardist / drummer / vocalist Luis Gutierrez and lead drummer / vocalist Nicholas Cowman. Using their influences and talents, Religious Girls focus their energy into creating powerful harmonies and layering them over intricate percussive rhythms. Bay area indie music site The Bay Bridged concisely explains the spectrum of Religious Girls songwriting:
“bursting-at-the-seams compositions to soaring, noisy, melodic, and mathy extremes.”
Collectively, the band has tried to push aside the standards of popular song writing with non-repeating structures, an intricate meth-matical style, and a carefully laid out set in which all songs are interweaved into one. Religious Girls focus on creating intimacy with the crowd, and are known to offer an intense and dramatic set. They feel that no matter how high of quality a recording may be, the live set is what moves people, and viewers leave in awe by the end of their live performances.
Religious Girls have played countless shows around the bay area, consistently toured up the West Coast, and have amazed crowds from L.A.’s FMLY Fest to Idaho’s Treefort Fest. In January 2017 they went overseas on tour in Japan, mesmerizing new fans with the live-chaos of their new album.
The long awaited Pure Energy will be released on Long Beach label Porch Party Records on July 28th 2017.
PRESS
The Stranger // "the three dudes in the experimental Oakland trio are artfully pulling my mind in new directions. Combining frantic live drums with layered synth textures and expressive howls, the band creates a magical space for my thoughts to wander in public, directed by otherworldly sounds. The songs specifically deny verse-chorus-verse formula, and because they're never repeating structures, it feels like the musical equivalent of a helium balloon set free in the sky. There's no grounding structure, no repeating theme to draw you back to earth."
credits
released August 11, 2017
Performed by Nicholas Cowman, Christopher Danko & Luis Gutierrez
Tracked by Daniel Schlett at Strange Weather Brooklyn in Brooklyn, NY
Additional Tracking by Andrew Oswald at Secret Bathroom inOakland, CA
Mixed and Produced by Justin Divver at Secret Bathroom in Oakland, CA
Mastered by Patrick Brown at Different Fur in San Francisco, CA
Album art by Christopher Danko
Executive Producers: Kyle Bashaw, Fay Johnson, Bryan Cowman, Elena Gutierrez & Rebecca Bailey
Special Thanks to James Rice, Jordan DeHerrera, Pauline Poderoso, and of course our fun friends & family
In Loving Memory of James Laurence
Porch Party Records exists to release music and promote shows with our friends all over
California.
In 2009, we began hosting shows and letting bands record and practice at our house. We all chill on our porch listening to great records with a tangled web of dozens of bands from up and down the coast. Now we make records and cassettes. Let's have some fun....more
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