Elizabeth & The Catapult: Debut

BROOKLYN TRIO SET TO BUST OUT OF UNDERGROUND IN ’09

“The group utilizes elastic rhythms and dark subject matter that gives its songs a slow burn resonance. Fans of Feist should be head over heels in no time.” –Spin.com

“The self-assured Elizabeth and the Catapult prove what a sultry-voiced Greenwich Village habitué with a Norah Jones jones should do: Just let it flow.” –Boston Globe

E&TC by EJ Decoske

Though not out until summer, we wanted to hip you to a nifty debut coming down the pike this year from Elizabeth & The Catapult. On June 9, 2009, Verve Forecast will release the band’s first full-length album, Taller Children, a pretty damn winning slab of prime singer-songwriter pop that you can slot in nicely between Joni Mitchell’s Hissing of Summer Lawns and Aimee Mann’s I’m With Stupid, provided you slathered on a lil’ Lily Allen-esque sass. The bulk of Taller Children was recorded with producer Mike Mogis (noted for his work with the likes of Bright Eyes, M. Ward and Rilo Kiley), but several of the album’s performances were drawn from the home demos that the band recorded in drummer Danny Molad‘s home studio. The resulting album strikes a nice balance between lush sophistication and spare, unadorned simplicity.

Led by the striking voice and sharply edged songwriting of Elizabeth Ziman, the Brooklyn trio is rounded out by guitarist Pete Lalish. Their first long player has the feel of Jon Brion’s work with Mann, Nickel Creek and others, where each cut is a well crafted world unto itself that reminds us that “pop” isn’t necessarily a dirty word when handled as smartly as Taller Children, which follows on the heels of their D.I.Y. self-financed, self-released six-song EP last year. Though birthed in the coffeehouses and nightclubs of NYC, they traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to record at Mogis’ Presto! Recording Studios (home base of Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek Records), where they were able to realize their songs with a minimum of distractions. Taller Children introduces us to a strong, new female voice to join the emerging likes of Dawn Landes, Thea Gilmore and Ashleigh Flynn – quality stuff that goes down smooth.

Here’s a few choice clips to whet your appetites, starting with a very nice reworking of Leonard Cohen.