Biography
Despite hailing from Bologna, the Italian university city, A Classic Education might just as readily trace their origins to Leeds or Toronto. Canadian-born vocalist Jonathan Clancy supplies the nocturnal, reverb-slicked textures and melodramatic croon that color their sound, an approach whose influences point toward Brit-pop and indie-pop acts such as the Wedding Present, the Field Mice, and the Smiths. Clancy joined Luca Mazzieri and Paul Pieretto to launch the group in the early 2000s; the roster soon grew with the additions of Giulia Mazza, Federico Oppi, and Stefano Roveda. Within its first several years the band issued a self-titled EP on Rough Trade and the Best Regards/Rest 7", which Balliwick Recordings released in 2009. Profile-raising live appearances during their first U.S. tour in 2009, including sets at CMJ and SXSW, markedly raised their visibility. In the aftermath of those shows, Maryland indie-pop label Holiday Records offered their next single, What I Could Have Been/Toi, as a digital release. Lefse Records followed with the debut mini-album Hey There Stranger in 2010, and the group’s first full-length, Call It Blazing, appeared the next October.
Albums
