CHAPPO

Brooklyn's CHAPPO craft indie rock shaped by driving rhythms, psychedelic textures, and post-punk edges. The group originated with Baton Rouge native Alex Chappo handling lead vocals and songwriting alongside Seattle-born keyboardist Chris Olson; guitarist Dave Feddock and drummer Zac Colwell later joined the lineup. Established in Manhattan during 2007, the band issued the EP Plastique Universe in 2010 and followed it the next year with Plastique Universe II: Pisces Princess. Their first full-length album, Moonwater, appeared on Majordomo Records in 2012. Two additional EPs arrived in 2013—Petite Plastique and the freely downloadable Nothin' to Sell Ya, which contained covers of Beck, Jefferson Airplane, and Kenny Rogers. Following extensive touring that encompassed headline dates, festival slots, and support runs alongside Royal Teeth, Big Data, and Imagine Dragons, CHAPPO joined the Votiv roster near the end of 2014, releasing the Celebrate EP that December. The freewheeling concept album Future Former Self, centered on passage through a black hole, surfaced in spring 2015.

Over the subsequent three years the band maintained an active touring schedule that included several outings with the Flaming Lips; Colwell, who had produced the first two albums, departed; and the remaining members paused activity after the unrelated, untimely deaths of Chappo's close friend and Feddock's son. Eventually choosing to resume their collaboration, the trio reconvened and traveled to San Francisco to work with John Vanderslice at his analog facility, Tiny Telephone. Issued once more by Votiv, 2018's Do It emerged with a somewhat more reflective tone while retaining its trippy buoyancy.