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Abigail Grush / Abigail Grush Group / PeaSoup
Reviews and Previews
"...A very odd mixture of Purple Rose in Cairo vs. Salome's Dance, '30's guitar (like Django Reinhardt on Latin aphrodisiacs), and harmonies that have the clarity and timbre of Betty Boop, it [is] an acquired taste, though brilliant in its composition." - Julianne Shepard, Portland Mercury
"Most of the time, albums are pretty predictable. You have a pretty good idea of what you are going to hear before the laser starts reading the disc. There are, of course, those exceptions where the music takes you totally by surprise. I have to admit I wasn't expecting much when I dropped Abigail Grush's "The Phantom Beat" [into the CD player]. What came out of my speakers could not have been more intriguing. Her sound is a bit tough to describe, but it combines elements of cabaret, jazz, and Merrie Melodies. Grush and her musicians weave guitars, drums, bass, clarinet, French horn and a glockenspiel together to create a wonderfully unique and engaging sound. Many of the songs remind me of the songs in old Fleischer and Warner Brothers cartoons like Betty Boop and Merrie Melodies. The fact that the band is presented as Ub Iwerks' style cartoons probably proves that connection. Despite the irreverence of the melodies, Grush's lyrics are quite strong and add an additional layer of tension to the songs. The only record I can think to really compare it to is Ann Magnuson's "The Luv Show" from a few years ago. "The Phantom Beat" is not only quite interesting and unique, but an infectious album that quickly becomes addictive." - Phil Bailey, ink19.com
"When experimental acts play their first few shows, there are often more instruments on stage than fans in attendance. That was the case a year ago, when Abigail Grush Group gigged at Satyricon, setting up its xylophones, keyboard, saxophones, accordion and clarinet to enchant 10 people. But word is starting to spread about Grush's ornate yet oddly accessible compositions, which use her versatile voice and that impressive instrumental arsenal to obliterate genre lines. Given that this is a free, all-ages show, which can make even casual music listeners curious enough to peruse slightly askew sounds, the Grush Group might finally draw the type of crowd it deserves." - AM, Portland Mercury (Preview for a Mississippi Pizza show)
"Seattle's Abigail Grush (Abby to her friends) plays some of the most infectiously off-the-wall pop music you'll ever hear -- if you can even call it pop music; it might be a little too weird to qualify. Each of her bouncy wacky numbers is a stew of unexpected
sounds and influences, ranging from pop to No Wave to country to avant-jazz to Brechtian musical theater to Saturday morning cartoon music. Like some of her obvious sources of inspiration -- The Fugs, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefhart, The Residents, Laurie Anderson -- Grush clearly considers no style off-limits. She and her band employ a breathtakingly vast array of instruments... Grush incorporates a remarkable number of disparate sounds into tight, action-packed compositions that brim with a crazy, brilliant logic which borders on complete maddness. ....Imagine Alice in Wonderland updated for the twenty-first century and set to music and you'll have an idea of this music's vivid nuttiness..." - unknown, Epitonic.com
"If you needed a rock opera based on your Eastern European grandmother's attic, Abigail Grush would be the one to commission. Rich, musty textures of Old World sounds like klezmer horns, accoridons and glockenspiels create a heady aura of nostalgia for the old country as well as a lot of catchy hooks...." - Jamie Kiffel, Lollipop Magazine
"Cabaret music from the seedier bohemian neighborhoods of the Lunar Colony. Grush and her spectral Beat tangle with a menagerie of instruments, from plain-old guitars to fiddles to bodhran drums to jawharps. Off-balance sexiness wrestles avant garde leanings for control of the mix. The battle never ends, but it makes a compelling show." - NXNW Music Festival preview (1999)
"In the early '60's, Grush would have worn a beehive and every greaser would have been in love with her. Instead, it's 1999 and her reedy voice and balladeering style will earn her a small -- but probably devoted -- following." -Sarah B., listen.com
"In addition to composing music, Abigail Grush plays a lot of different instruments. She has played with several avant-pop bands in New York and Seattle. Some of her compositions have even been recorded by chamber orchestras. She also plays in a band called PeaSoup, thus named 'because that's the sound of a cymbal being choked - pssp!' Now that's pretty clever. Grush has a big vocal range that soars over her unusual songs, songs [that] remind me of the more cacophonous collaborations of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. Maybe it's the accordion. More likely, it's that she and Weill take traditional popular music and tweak it in a way so it sound kind of creepy, yet catchy at the same time." - unknown, Skratch Magazine
"Abby... can stretch her voice in ways that, if transposed to the corporeal, would mean she's an ambidextrous six-armed Hindu acrobat... I'll put it this way: she can sing circles around anything you could throw at her. Not that I'm encouraging anyone to throw anything at her...." - Jay Chilcote, the Echo
"(the music) is complex and difficult at time, but always completely charming and fun." -unknown, The Stranger
"If modern alternative music is to continue to be just that, PeaSoup's jazzy--alternative-pop-and-ponder deserves a place in its future." unknown,- LA Express
"It reminds me of Sunday morning cartoons... quirky and loopy at times." unknown, - The Mattress
"Modern day Gershwin-ites writing theme music for a reunion Monkees show on the acid jazz cable channel." - Jay Chilcote, the Echo
"Pop anarchists intent on disrupting the trainlines from the 'Barcelona' of typical pop music." - Jay Chilcote, the Echo
"The embodiment of versatility" - unknown, the Rocket