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Smoosh makes music a mother would love

From musically rich Seattle, sisters Asya (who's 13) and Chloe (10) have opened for Pearl Jam among others. The girls wrote all the songs and played the instruments on their debut album, "She Like Electric.'

By GINA VIVINETTO
Published February 1, 2005

I receive so many e-mails and calls from hip young parents concerned about the music their school-age kids can choose from - or the lack of it - that I began obsessing over what my own (imaginary) kids would listen to.

And how I would - gasp! - monitor their choices.

The issue struck a chord, pardon the pun, with me. It brought up many of my concerns about creativity, censorship, mass marketing, feminism and proper parenting. Especially, truth be told, about my (imaginary) daughter.

Would I want my school-age daughter listening to Britney Spears?

"Hit me baby, one more time"? Spears sang the tune in her teens. Is that sentiment one that a young girl honestly wants to sing? Or is it a corporate-spun fantasy in a Catholic school skirt? Spears didn't write the lyrics to that or any of the songs she sang in her teens.

I would be bummed out if my adorable daughter emulated Spears' trashy fashion sense. Or if she asked me to buy her clothes in the style of pop tarts Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan or any of the singers groomed at Disney who begin as squeaky clean Mouseketeers and end up teenage tramps.

I would want my daughter to be a normal kid. To listen to music appropriate for someone her age. Songs about life at school, friends, having fun, whatever.

That's why I was thrilled to discover the band Smoosh. And, later, to learn there are more like this fun duo.

From musically rich Seattle, sisters Asyaand Chloe - the two keep their last names to themselves - began Smoosh just over a year ago and have released a debut album, She Like Electric, on independent label Pattern 25.

It's even more impressive when you consider Asya (pronounced Ossy-uh) is 13 and Chloe is 10.

Why did the sisters start a band?

"Because it's fun," Asya says over the phone from her home. Asya had been taking piano lessons, she explains, but she abandoned those because "playing the same thing over and over got really boring. I wanted to make my own songs."

While shopping at a Seattle instrument store with their father Mike, who also keeps the family's last name private, the girls wandered into the percussion room and found some drums and a drum teacher. That teacher, Jason McGerr, the drummer for indie rock sensation Death Cab For Cutie, found an eager student in Chloe.

The family left with a $600 drum set. Chloe enrolled in the renowned Seattle Drum School, where McGerr is a teacher. Smoosh was on its way.

The duo had an early gig at the Rock and Roll Camp For Girls in Portland, Ore., whose rotating instructors include members of feminist punk bands Sleater-Kinney and the Haggard, and also features workshops from members of the Donnas, Sonic Youth and Le Tigre.

Smoosh's quirky minimalist sound is like nothing on mainstream radio. Asya sings in a wail that is dainty but scarily passionate. The duo's sound is off-kilter and arty; think of the Tom Tom Club and Yoko Ono's fun dance music. Asya's keyboard playing is remarkably good - she confesses she's glad she took those few lessons. Chloe's inventive percussion is filled with plenty of complex tempo shifts.

Asya is a gifted songwriter for any age, with an ear for hooks and melody. The subjects? Asya's lyrics touch upon the concerns of your average preteen: personal problems, friends getting you down, anxiety about making the soccer team.

Other tunes are wacky kid stuff: Pygmy Motorcycle, Bottlenose and The Quack, and they sound arty and terrific.

Then, there's Rad, a funky hip-hop song on which Asya "raps" us all out of the dumps: "Everybody are you feeling bad today? 'Cause maybe you should be a little happier."

Asya bangs at the grooviest bassline on her keyboards and you can't help but shuffle your feet and clap your hands along with the duo as they suggest you "Go play!" - join a soccer or football team, do what makes you feel good, because you can help them when you help yourself, yeah!, pep yourself up.

It's so simple: "If you're mad, if you're sad," go play, the girls suggest.

(Ah, remember those days?)

Chloe joins in on vocals sometimes, harmonizing with her sister or letting out an errant piercing scream on the chorus of Bottlenose.

She Like Electric bristles with creativity and the freedom of youth. It has the beautiful "beginner's spirit" that Zen Buddhists admire. Recorded in just three days, the album is entirely the product of Asya and Chloe; no grownups interfered. The girls wrote all the songs and played the instruments. Their little sister Maia, 8, created the beautiful watercolor that is the album's cover.

Mike and his wife, Maria, are proud of their girls, and more proud that this was all the kids' idea. Though they are from a town known for its music scene, Mike, an academic, and Maria, a physician, are not familiar with it.

"On the contrary, we're total losers," Mike says, laughing. "Though we're turning into music lovers as a result of all of this. Now every band I hear is my new favorite band."

At home, the couple, who are both 39, always listened to a variety of music, including blues, jazz and classical, says Mike. However, music was not "an especially big deal." Now, he says, Maia is joining in on her sisters' jamming.

"She's working on her bass." (The couple has a fourth daughter, Scout, 17 months.)

The only input the couple give to the girls is to encourage them not to be judgmental. "We explain to the girls that things are not so black and white," Mike says.

"It's not nice to trash-talk other performers. Just because someone is lip-synching, or whatever. Things are more complicated than that. We also explain how image is often controlled through marketing, all of those sorts of things. "They really call all the shots," Mike says, "and I know the only thing they say to me is that they don't ever want to be portrayed as something they are not."

That kind of spunk, coupled with the duo's talent, has earned Smoosh a loyal cult of fans as well as a spot on National Public Radio and press from underground music magazines.

They've opened for Sleater-Kinney, Death Cab For Cutie, Cat Power, Pearl Jam and, most recently, a week of dates on the road with Jimmy Eat World.

What if this gets bigger and bigger, if Smoosh winds up in major rock magazines and on MTV?

"That's not really my goal," says little sister Chloe, who's taken over the telephone. "I just want to be a really good drummer. I want to make good music."

The girls are not alone in their desire.

Bands featuring preteens are popping up all around, and more and more of them feature girls. Check out the sidebar to get the scoop on the Mechanical Dolls and DEK.

Smoosh's She Like Electric is available from the band's Web site, www.smoosh.com or from the band's record label: www.pattern25.com You can also purchase it at www.amazon.com or in many independent record stores.

IN THE RAW: Join local singer-songwriters at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the State Theater, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg, for its ongoing In The Raw series featuring Tampa Bay area musicians performing acoustically. Wednesday's lineup includes Justin Beckler, Billy Summer of the Semis, Scott Harrell, Tracy LaBarbera, Brian Merrill of Barely Pink and the wonderfully talented Harry Hayward, drummer of Ronny Elliott and the Nationals. Admission is $3. 727 895-3045. Gina Vivinetto can be reached at (727) 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 31, 2005, 13:22:02]