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By John Norris  @jonnynono
They are an absolute pop treasure, those Parenthetical Girls, one that unquestionably (and I say this about so many, I know, but it’s true…) deserves, needs to be heard far and wide. Some say they’re too arch, baroque, clever for their own good, yeah yeah—that’s nonsense. I have to believe that music of this band—and when I say band, I really mean the twisted genius Zac Pennington, the only constant P-Girl in an ever-changing lineup over nearly ten years, and his creative collaborator, the equally gifted Jherek Bischoff—will find, at some point, traction in a larger pop world.
Of course Pennington didn’t do himself any favors in the higher-profile department by coming to the decision two years ago that rather than follow up the buzz-generating Safe as Houses (2006) and the more orchestral Entanglements (2008) with another even bigger label album, he would reclaim some of the DIY-ness by self-releasing, at intervals of approximately six months, Privilege: a series of five four-song EP’s, limited edition, vinyl only, portraits of a different band member gracing the cover of each, and hand-numbered in—wait for it—that band member’s blood. It’s a move Pennington calls “an absurdly fetishistic way of documenting the record.”
So all of that aside, how’s the music? Glad you asked. Thrilling. Over the first four instalments (Part 5 should be out in the spring) Parenthetical Girls have offered their strongest and certainly most varied collection to date, from the dark melodrama of “The Pornographer” to the mannered camp of “Evelyn McHale”, the synth pop drive of “Young Throats” to effective title track “The Privilege”, with a, er, “cutting” music video which you’ll see in full.
A clever guy makes for smart conversation, and that’s exactly what you get from Zac, in an interview shot in December at Brooklyn’s Hotel Williamsburg. Among the topics: his reasons for this unorthodox “gambit” of a self-released series, the Warholian inspiration for the sexy video for “The Pornographer”, and what his mom (!) thought of it, the aforementioned blood numbering, Zac’s relationship with sentiment in music, and his hopes that someone will pick up this phenomenal collection and release it as an entire compilation. Domino, 4AD, Secretly, Asthmatic, Jag: I hope you guys are listening. It was indeed a Privilege talking to him, and it’s a pleasure to offer it as this week’s Face Time: music and conversation with Zac Pennington of Parenthetical Girls.