Jo Lloyd : vocals, bass, piano James Wright : guitar Dave Magee : drums
If a band were soda pop, you'd call it effervescent. Hair coloring? Vibrant. Breath spray? Cool, refreshing. Effervescence, vibrancy, coolness…all of these qualities apply to Stretch Princess and their sophomore album, Fun With Humans.
Trivial Aside #1: What's a "Stretch Princess?"
(A) an unsung female basketball player (B) a porn star (C) a game cruel children play with the family pet (D) a luxury edition of the UK's answer to the AMC Gremlin
Answer: D. Says Jo, "In England, there's a car called an Austin Princess. It's an ugly, funny car that, for some reason, they made into a limousine so it became a 'Stretch' Princess. It sounds glamorous and yet it's kind of tacky."
Naturally, Fun With Humans is less like Pepsi or personal care products than an eleven-round clip of rubber bullet pop. It's bouncy, and damned if it doesn't smart a little. Stretch Princess has a flair for having fun with everything, even life's weightier moments.
"The title…I'll tell you how it came about," smiles singer Jo Lloyd, "I was playing with a Slinky and using my hands as the stairs. I was like, 'It's fun with humans! Wouldn't that be a good name for a record?' And then it got bigger in concept. You can connect it to everything. Any situation can look really, really silly."
Stretch Princess formed in London after the dissolve of a wedding band in which Lloyd and drummer Dave Magee were substituting. Soon after guitarist James Wright, a native Aussie, joined them they became an instant buzz band despite having only six songs. An appearance at the In The City Music Festival in Dublin led to some offers from record labels which the band tabled in order to fatten their repertoire. In 1997 they flew to New York to play in the CMJ Music Marathon, after which they returned home to more offers. In 1998 the band signed with New York-based Wind-up Records and relocated stateside. Over the past five years they have called both Brooklyn and Manhattan home.
In August 1998 their self-titled debut was released and they canvassed 46 states in seven months with artists such as Third Eye Blind and Eve 6. Then Dave was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Rather than withdraw and face catharsis, he challenged fate and pursued every possible medical treatment available. While facing the challenge, the band came off the road and together found support in one another. Miraculously, Dave beat it, presenting a testament to his personal will and their combined fortitude to stare any obstacles down and face them head on. Looking back on his condition he lives life with a sense of levity, always living for the day.
Throughout this period of recovery, Jo and James continued to write and play with Dave participating when possible. By all rights, the songs born of these sessions could have been a drag but for Stretch Princess' indomitable, inescapable spirit and spunk. Instead, Fun With Humans is a multi-faceted musical meditation on life and how it sometimes seems like a crapshoot and a snipe hunt.
Trivial Aside #2: What did guitarist James Wright do to supplement his income during this break?
(A) strip (B) gig as an Elvis look-alike (C) work as a private investigator (D) busk in New York's Port Authority bus station
Answer: C. Says James, "I looked completely different compared to all the other P.I.'s, who were in their 30s and 40s and dressed in gray suits. I'd wear jeans and a bright red T-shirt. I was so obviously not a P.I. that I could actually keep following people longer. That's my theory of misdirection."
"What was happening was so unreal, that it was almost like someone having a bit of a laugh upstairs," says Jo, "Just something looking down on the planet and pulling people's strings, having a bit of a game with them." Adds James, "As the songs developed, they became about the bond and feeling we all had for each other…and our outlook on life. We wanted to inject a lot of positivity into the record."
"We try to make everything count. I remember Sheryl Crow quoting Bob Dylan, 'Write every line like it's the first line of the song.' So you try and keep that in mind: every line counts and should be able to stand up on its own. On this record we've just pushed ourselves a little harder lyrically; to be a bit more vulnerable, a bit more honest."
First single "Freakshow" is a perfect example, starting out as a frustration valve ("I feel like a reject from a freakshow") and morphing into a funny tune tying up loose ends in a relationship. "It's also about rejection," explains Jo, "There's a certain amount of 'I just wish I hadn't given you my last Gummi Bear!' What's funny is it's happening to me! I stupidly left some stuff - I've written some kids' books and drawn some cards - around at a guy's house and he will not give them back to me. And I want them. They're precious to me. I can't believe this song has come true!" Friend and Brooklyn neighbor Tracy Bonham appears on "Freakshow" singing backing vocals.
Sonically, the record (produced by the band, Luke Ebbin and Chris Johnson) is a dose of fizzy guitar pop ditties ("You Should've Come," "Favourite Lunatic," "Dying To Begin") and wistful, tender ballads ("Angels," "Time And Time Again") that showcase Jo's captivating Hope Sandoval-Rickie Lee Jones vocals. For aural variation there are some attempted Radiohead-isms. "We like to think we sound like Radiohead, but we don't," jokes James. "We think we're cooler than we are," Jo adds with a laugh. "With this new record we're kind of contemporizing with sounds and stuff. Partly, I think, to put our personalities across more 'cause we're really upbeat people. We like to have a good time. Capturing that was really important. And I think we managed to do it. Definitely."
"A lot of the songs come across happy and positive, but the lyrics exorcise negativity in a fairly tongue-in-cheek, lighthearted way," says Dave. James furthers, "When the three of us go into a room and perform, something happens between us - this energy thing where the result is very happy. That's the response we'd like people to have to the record."
