NYC goth pop-alternative duo Frenchy and the Punk offer “Cities In Dust” single & video

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 08:40:08 +0000

(Photo by Samantha Stephenson) NYC-based goth pop-alternative duo Frenchy and the Punk present their cover version of Siouxsie and the Banshees’ classic “Cities In Dust”, set for release on October 18, the 38th anniversary of the original release by this game-changing post-punk outfit. You can already pre-order it here on Bandcamp.

But we can already offer you the official video for this new single. The single comes with the B-side track “Monsters”.

Frenchy and the Punk is vocalist, percussionist and lyricist Samantha Stephenson and guitarist-composer Scott Helland, who co-founded Outpatients and Deep Wound (with Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis and Lou Barlow).

This release follows the duo’s seventh album “Zen Ghost”, written and recorded during the pandemic and released in October 2022. During these same recording sessions, they decided to record the Banshees’ cover seeing it was well-received during live shows.

Helland recalls first discovering Siouxsie in the mid-80s upon walking into his favorite record store – Main Street Records in Northampton, MA, noting “It was one of those things I’ll never forget. Seeing a poster of Siouxsie with her teased black hair and the song blasting throughout the store, it was mind blowing. I feel like I hadn’t really been exposed to female musicians in the punk or goth realm until then. She was instantly cool to me.”

While also a fan, Stephenson’s deep dive into the Banshees’ sound came much later. “I was aware of Siouxsie and the Banshees, but mostly for her stunning look. I loved her image. She seemed to exude fierceness and confidence but I wasn’t all that familiar with the band’s sound. It’s really because our fans constantly mentioned her name that got me falling down the Banshees’ rabbit hole some years ago,” says Stephenson.

About Frenchy and the Punk

Helland and Stephenson met in NYC in 1998, when Stephenson jumped on stage to accompany Helland during his solo guitar performance. The two decided to form a musical duo and began to tour.

With numerous recordings under their belt over the years, they’ve performed with Dead Can Dance’s Peter Ulrich and Dresden Dolls’ Brian Viglione, and opened for Thomas Dolby, Dinosaur Jr., The World Inferno Friendship Society, Rasputina, Cruxshadows, Hurray For The Riff Raff and The Young Dubliners.

After a full year of touring throughout the USA and Europe in support of “Zen Ghost”, Frenchy and the Punk are now back in New York, writing material for a new album they plan to release in 2024.

Tour dates:

Oct. 21 Eastampton, Nj – Autumn Lands Festival
Nov. 4 Pittsburgh, Pa – Witches’ Ball
Dec 2-3 West Palm Beach, Fl – Steampunk Adventurers Weekend
Jan. 13 Colts Neck, Nj – Big Top Circus Ball
Feb 16-18 Gettysburg, Pa – Mythicon
Apr. 6 Galveston, Tx – Galveston Steampunk Festival
Apr 19-21 San Meteo, Ca – Clockwork Alchemy
Apr 27-28 Holly Springs, Nc – Festival Of Legends
May 18 Milton, Pa – World Of Fae Ball

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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NYC-based postpunk duo Frenchy and the Punk offer new single and video ‘If The World Doesn’t End First’ to announce all new album ‘Zen Ghost’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 09:02:55 +0000

The NYC-based postpunk duo Frenchy and the Punk are back with a new (and seventh) album “Zen Ghost”, out now via EA Recordings. The release comes accompanied by a new zsingle and video, “If The World Doesn’t End First”.

Frenchy and the Punk is vocalist, percussionist and lyricist Samantha Stephenson and guitarist-composer Scott Helland, who was co-founder and bassist of Outpatients and also Deep Wound (along with Dinosaur Jr. founders J Mascis and Lou Barlow). Helland and Stephenson met in NYC in 1998, when Stephenson spontaneously jumped on stage to accompany Helland during his solo guitar performance.

Over the years, they’ve performed live with Dead Can Dance’s Peter Ulrich and Dresden Dolls’ Brian Viglione, and opened for Thomas Dolby, Dinosaur Jr., The World Inferno Friendship Society, Rasputina, Cruxshadows, Hurray For The Riff Raff and The Young Dubliners.

Samantha Stephenson speaks about the inspiration behind the new single: “I have a very clear memory of seeing the apocalyptic film ‘The Day After’ as a child and being totally traumatized by it. I had a recurring nightmare for months afterwards that I was running home during a nuclear war to die with my family, I didn’t want to die away from them. It was the Cold War, it felt like the end of the world was possible back then. Extreme circumstances tend to put things in focus and in perspective. The past six years politically and culturally have been very intense. The pandemic felt like the culmination of years of social and cultural anxiety. There was a point where, after our US and European dates were all cancelled in 2020, we were trying to book some shows with the expectation that it would be possible again in early 2021 but the situation kept shifting. A promoter, suggesting a new possible show date, ended the email with ‘if the world doesn’t end first’. That phrase really hit me. It took me back and I started thinking about how all the trivialities and ridiculous things that we worry and stress about, things that in the end don’t matter, vanish in the face of survival and we are left with the one thing that does matter – love.”

Here’s the video for “If The World Doesn’t End First”

The “Zen Ghost” LP is out now, you can check the release below.

Zen Ghost by Frenchy and the Punk

Tour dates

Dec 2 Camden/London – Black Heart (with Before Victoria & Flesh Tetris)
Dec 6 Edinburgh, UK – The Wee Red Bar
Dec 10 Exeter, UK – Yule Ball (with Professor Elemental)
Feb 4/5 Manchester, CT – Stupid Cupid Steampunk Festival
Feb 18/19 Gettsyburg, PA – MythiCon Festival
April 01 Galveston, TX – Galveston Steampunk Festival
April 8-9 Baltimore, MD – Between The Worlds
April 15/16 Chicago, IL – Chicago Steampunk Expo
April 22/23 Apex, NC – Festival of Legends