The Sharp Things

In late 1995 vocalist and pianist Perry Serpa abandoned his cherished New York City base for a brief retreat to rural Pennsylvania in the company of drummer Steven Gonzales. The pair intended merely to capture a handful of indie pop numbers for amusement under the invented name the Sharp Things. Those sessions instead produced an affable yet theatrical rock approach, prompting Serpa and Gonzales to treat the Sharp Things as a genuine ensemble. During the ensuing years the group performed regularly in and around the East Village. Guitarist Jim Santo of the New York noise pop band Jenifer Convertible attended one such show and was instantly struck.

Santo joined the Sharp Things in summer 1997, at which point the lineup featured Serpa on acoustic guitar, Santo on electric guitar, and Gonzales on drums. By 1999 ex-Fluffer guitarist Janet Treadaway and Erica Maeyama, drummer for Knocked Out Loaded, had been enlisted to cover bass and keyboards. Additional musicians drawn from the N.Y.C. scene supplied strings and brass, among them Dawn Hui on violin, Aisha Cohen on viola, and Brian McWhorter on trumpet.

Early in 2000 the Sharp Things entered the studio to record their debut album, writing and producing ten songs in less than two days. Here Comes the Sharp Things appeared as a self-released title in spring 2002; Dive Records subsequently acquired it and issued the official edition in early 2003. The band sustained a steady schedule of New York performances in support of the record, earning favorable notices for its rich chamber pop textures. Late that year they returned to the studio for a follow-up.

Foxes and Hounds arrived in May 2005. In addition to Serpa, Santo, and Gonzales the album included guitarist Michelle Caputo and bassist Rich Holst, while the string section featured violist Cohen, cellist Claire Freeman, violinists Janis Shen and Andrea Dovalle, and violist/violinist Katie Schnepp. For their third release, A Moveable Feast, the Sharp Things enlisted the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble and secured contributions from Michael Cerveris, the Hold Steady’s Franz Nicolay, and Antibalas’ Stuart Bogie. The album reached stores in summer 2007.