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Parenthetical Girls

Parenthetical Girls was an experimental pop band formed in Everett, Washington, and then based in Portland, Oregon. Begun primarily as a recording project, the touring ensemble consisted of vocalist [a=Zac Pennington], [a=Rachael Jensen], [a=Eddy Crichton] and [a=Matt Carlson], all sharing a variety of instrumental duties. Former touring members [a=Jherek Bischoff] and [a=Sam Mickens] (of the band [a=Dead Science]) joined them for recording sessions. Their music was notable for its combination of saccharine pop and experimental elements and has been compared with such disparate acts as [a=Brian Eno], [a=Philip Glass], [a=Xiu Xiu] and [a=Phil Spector]. Originally taking their name from the [a=Brian Eno] composition "Swastika Girls", original members Zac Pennington and Jeremy Cooper self-released their limited run debut EP Christmas With Swastika Girls in 2002. After Cooper left the band, they changed their name and Pennington released (((GRRRLS))), the band's vinyl-only debut album on his own [l=Slender Means Society] label in 2004. This got recorded with the help of [a=Jherek Bischoff] and [a=Jamie Stewart (2)] (of Xiu Xiu fame). A split 7-inch with the band [a=Dead Science] was released by [l=Obsolete Vernacular] in 2007. In 2008 they switched labels to Germany's Indietronic source [l=Tomlab]. In 2017, bandleader Zac Pennington declared that the project had ended. Announcing, "Parenthetical Girls is over."