peek-a-boo

ARTIST STATEMENT BY DANIEL BARROW (Excerpt)

Directed by Greg Goldberg, 2006.

REVIEWS

"The 11 cuts on their self-released debut, Mattachine!, are literate, adult, slyly-permissive contemplations on not simply love, but rather modern romance’s quirks and moral ambiguities." - NY Press

"Like cold running down your fingers on a hot day, and you can't keep up with all the drips, so you just let it cry, in bright droplets on the sidewalk." - Said the Gramophone

"In the face of the increasing mainstreaming of gayness, Mattachine! spelunks the often unrevealed vagaries of contemporary queer life. Recalling Holiday-era Magnetic Fields, these songs bop with heady buoyancy, yet are underpinned by complicated butt universal themes: self-deception, infidelity without shame, war fatigue and finding love in a world of online hookups. This is no list of laments; each song celebrates these quandaries with both lyrical and musical gusto." - Time Out New York

"The Ballet has been a band for barely over a year, and they only pressed 200 copies of their debut full-length, which comes packaged in hand-folded envelopes and is totally brilliant, full of adorable, infectious songs that toe a line between 60s bubblegum pop and stylized 90s indie pop. They're fast becoming one of our favorite bands.... Kudos to Brooklyn Vegan for jumping all over these guys a few months back. Their orchestral pop is driven by brilliant melodies you can't believe haven't been used before." - The L Magazine

"After confirming that Voxtrot's singer Ramesh would DJ the show at Syrup Room on June 29th with Land of Talk and Tokyo Police Club, I asked their manager James if he had any suggestions for a third band. He asked if I'd heard of a NYC band called The Ballet. I hadn't. He said their live show is good and Ramesh himself is actually a big fan. So then I checked out their MP3s, and MySpace, and immediately decided to ask them. For fans of Voxtrot, The Smiths, Belle & Sebastian, The Magnetic Fields and other 'sissy pop'." -Brooklyn Vegan

"The Ballet excels in the sort of three-minute ear candy that boys and girls have been writing about each other for ages. That the band members so effortlessly co-opt the form to detail the gay scene is at once more interesting than the same old he-said/she-said and as casually revolutionary only in its universal likeability." - Prefix Magazine

"They have a pleasant, narrative Magnetic Fields/Belle and Sebastian type sound that is almost inoffensive to a fault. Lighthearted music with occasionally dark and dire lyrics layered within. An interesting band, to say the least. One we recommend keeping an eye on as they continue to gain popularity around the city." - Gothamist

"Geeks of the world unite, trade in your Magnetic Fields albums and give this band a listen." - I Rock I Roll