There were quite a few groans of disappointment when the news broke late last fall that New York fuzz-rockers Chumped were going on hiatus. Though their reign may have been brief, the band’s debut Teenage Retirement won hearts in their native Colorado home, their New York home-away-from-home, and everywhere in between.
The group’s lead vocalist Anika Pyle and drummer Dan Frelly quickly formed a new project, though, and added Eric Sheppard and Anthony Tinnirella to the lineup. After a couple demos the group, dubbed Katie Ellen, have released their first official release. As Stereogum points out, it’s a 7-inch called TV Dreams and is a bit more gossamer than Chumped but with all the same prickly punk bite — and the lyrics are just as gutting: “I am miserable with you / Miserable without you,” Pyle sings on the eponymous track. These are age-old broken relationship feelings, but the band imbues them with fresh anguish.
The other new track, “Wild Heart,” is similarly caught in the past, with specific Paris imagery that will cut to the quick for anyone who has memories tied to the city. But the longing and innocence of a phrase like “I like to keep things that remind me of you” doesn’t even need a peg like Paris to sound romantic. Listen to both tracks below and watch for more from Katie Ellen in the coming months.
The group is also going on tour this fall with Jeff Rosenstock and Hard Girls; dates below:
10/24 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
10/25 Durham, NC @ Duke Coffee House
10/26 Athens, GA @ Georgia Theater
10/27 Tallahassee, FL @ Club Down Under
10/28-30 Gainesville, FL @ The Fest
11/01 Houston, TX @ Walter’s
11/02 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
11/03 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
11/05 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
11/06 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
11/07 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
11/09 Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin Madison – The Set
11/10 Detroit, MI @ El Club
11/11 Cleveland, OH @ The Grog Shop
11/12 Ithaca, NY @ Martha Hamblin Hall
11/14 Providence, RI AS220
11/15 Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
11/16 Philadelphia, PA @ Philamoca
11/17 Washington, DC @ DC9
11/18 Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel
The TV Dreams 7″ is out 10/21 via Lauren Records.
