The Sharp Things

DEDICATION
All activity of The Sharp Things, heretofore, will be dedicated to the memory of our drummer and best friend, Steven Gonzalez, who slipped from this earth on September 11th, 2014 after a 49-year battle with cystic fibrosis. Steve was, in many ways, our soul and (really) our beating heart. Despite all of his suffering, he will remain an example to all of us of how to live, as his life was full of music and love, and spirit.

BIOGRAPHY

THE SHARP THINGS are a longstanding, multi-member NYC-based collective led by singer/songwriter/pianist Perry Serpa.

Over their 15-plus years in existence, THE SHARP THINGS have taken in over 40 musicians, shared stages all over the place with the likes of Metric, Broken Social Scene, Tindersticks, Evan Dando, Joan As Policewoman, the late Vic Chesnutt, and many more and have been championed by such outlets as NME, LONDON SUNDAY TIMES, SPIN, MAGNET, NPR MUSIC, etc.

There were 2 celebrated albums, released in quick succession just post-Millennia- the Sharp Things' debut, appropriately, however improperly titled, Here Comes The Sharp Things (Setanta, 2003) which prompted the London Sunday Times to dub the band, "...essential additions to the chamber-pop canon." and Foxes & Hounds, (Bar/None 2005) which made the The Big Takeover effervesce, "Delightful! Charming! Splendid!" and which Under The Radar called, "Fourteen songs of string, piano, and horn brilliance." Whoo hoo!

A few years later, in 2007, Bar/None released TST's third album, A Moveable Feast, which not only employed a 40-piece orchestra on six of its 12 songs, it also featured Broadway luminary Michael Cerveris on its Nick Hornby-inspired kick off song, "The Jumpers," the Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay on accordion interstitials and Stuart Bogie on saxophone (Superhuman Happiness/Antibalas), among others. It also moved Spin to quip, "Hope is on the horizon thanks to pop visionaries the Sharp Things," and Magnet to offer, "Don't let all the trumpets, oboes and cellos make you nervous. Underneath the big-league arrangements are a set of muscular tunes that would still sound good played by a standard rock combo."

Somewhere in between Feast and its subsequent release, Serpa mustered the time to arrange strings and horns for a handful of other artists. His work can be heard, most notably, on TV On The Radio's breakthrough album, Dear Science, among others.

And by the end of 2008, Serpa had already penned in excess of 40 new tunes.

But with even with an overwhelming new repertoire, he decided to forgo self-editing to just RECORD EVERYTHING which was easy enough as the collective were already holed up at Bushwick's The Kennel Studio, co-owned by TST guitarist and bass player, Jim Santo and James Pertusi, respectively.

When confronted with the quandary of how to actually release such an amassment of music, ambition won out again and AN ALBUM SERIES — a collection of sorts celebrating an arguably floundering format in the most upstanding of ways with stalwart producer Billy Polo in collaboration (noted, believe it or not, for his work within the dub/reggae world).

In tribute to their aforementioned hotbed along the L train, (and taking a potshot at themselves) the band dubbed the series, The Dogs Of Bushwick.

The first installment, Green Is Good, a loosely themed opus about class wars and economic inequality, was released to some noteworthy acclaim in February 2013. The Truth Is Like The Sun followed in November of the same year, prompting John B. Moore at Blurt to call it, "Simply jaw-on-the-floor beautiful!" A succession of content and shows followed, including the band's first live offering, The Sharp Things Live At Galapagos Art Space, (March, 2014) a worthwhile chronicle of TST's packed out, full ensemble performance which saw 25 people on stage at once.

Now, the band is set to release, Adventurer's Inn, 9 more brand new songs, produced again by Billy Polo and featuring an array of side players accompanying the mainstay core band. This, the third album in The Dogs Of Bushwick series, coincides with the passing of founding member, drummer and Serpa's childhood friend, Steven Gonzalez to whom the record is dedicated. Gonzalez's work with The Sharp Things has been documented throughout the 4-album series and will fortunately provide the backbeat for the final long player expected out in April 2015.

A portion of the proceeds from Adventurer's Inn will benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.