One Track Mind

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A lot of marvelous things have come out of Brooklyn over the years (America’s first roller coaster, Woody Allen and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Henry Miller’s fiction, etc.), and now you can add Class Actress to the list. Originally the bedroom recording project of Greenpoint resident Elizabeth Harper, Class Actress has since become a full-fledged band with the addition of Mark Richardson and Scott Rosenthal. The trio’s premiere will be released courtesy of Terrible Records on February 9th, 2010, with the Journal of Ardency EP to be made available in digital and stylish 10″ vinyl formats.

Our first peek behind the curtain is the bouncy “Careful What You Say,” which situates itself somewhere between the Italo revivalism of Sally Shapiro or Chromatics and the earnest first-wave synth-pop of Bronski Beat or Speak & Spell-era Depeche Mode. As it turns out, it’s a pretty effin’ rad meeting place: cranked up enough for the dance floor but light enough to sound carefree and loose. At five and a quarter minutes in length, the track may be a tad too long-winded, but all is forgiven for the way the main, elastic synthesizer riff enters during the verses. If that weren’t enough on its own (and it is), Harper’s voice is nothing short of bewitching, the perfect companion to the willowy, digital sexiness of the drum machines and vintage synths. Class Actress is a band to be excited about, and undoubtedly worth keeping on your radar in 2010.