Who is She?

Banny Grove is a mystery, a miracle, and a sensation. Who is She? The alterego of Louise Chicoine, leader of the MA psych cult RABBIT RABBIT, in the roaming studio of GRAPE ROOM (aka Peter Nichols), the underground pop mastermind known for his homespun method of “reverse-engineering pop gold for the alternative sects.” (Sjimon Gompers, IMPOSE) Banny Grove is a hero, done up in the purple wig and platform shoes of a comic book glam icon, pouring untold optimism and love for humankind into her microphone. Her message is regeneration and strength and sometimes (see “Athlete Trax Update” or “Cheese Dream”) Nickelodeon-esque absurdity. Banny Grove is a toon busting into the real world, tearing thru the staleness of reality with her own magical importance. You can feel the poles shifting at her shows (to date, mostly in crowded Los Angeles warehouses and garages) where a special energy leaves many with their mouths open or grinning for 30 minutes at a time. “I’ve never heard anything like that” is the most common review — but we’ll try anyway to draw some comparisons. Certain ballads carry the compositional intricateness and swelling vocal mastery of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest, but with synthetic instrumentation more familiar to fans of Prince or 80s Fripp. Other jams have the bounce and playfulness of the Tom Tom Club or the B-52s, or Mothersbaugh’s Rugrats theme. And others borrow notes from 90s R&B, sometimes embracing the looseness of Cibo Matto and other times reaching for the dazzle-factor of a Mariah-true diva. All adding up to an extremely exciting and fresh debut — introducing: Banny Grove!