Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Best Band in America Right Now

Forget your Dirty Projectors (although I have to say I'm fucking loving that album now) and your Grizzly Bears-- the best band right now is the PS22 Chorus. I first learned about them when this video of them covering "Eye of the Tiger" was posted on a bunch of blogs.


They're a fifth grade chorus in the Bronx apparently. Read more here: http://ps22chorus.blogspot.com/

Apparently Perez Hilton has been all over this and they've made various tv appearances and were part of American Idol 3 last year, so I'm late to the game on this. But recently their videos (esp. the one above and the Lady Gaga one) have been going semi-viral and making the rounds. And the're all amazing! Little Kids + Two Part Harmony + Passionate Singing + Cavernous Auditorium Reverb + Ponytail = Magic!

A selection of favorites:

Lady Gaga:


Viva La Vida


Don't Stop Believin'



And holy shit, I'll Be Your Mirror! Gorgeous!

I'll Be Your Mirror:

5 comments:

dr. kittybrains said...

They're actually on Staten Island, but yeah - I got turned on to these kids just a couple of weeks ago. Truly truly awesome.

texplush said...

i love how into it emotionally all the boys are. this teacher is really something special. i'm sure that becoming sort of famous helps, but teaching those parts must be a challenge.

Eric said...

You guys should collaborate with them.

texplush said...

already thought of it...i honestly think they might be too famous...and being on staten island is totally unhelpful...

Eric said...

Also, re this: "i love how into it emotionally all the boys are." Jordana made the good point that Fifth Grade really is the magical year to do this. As a former camp counselor, I can confirm this: any younger, and boys are basically wild animals, but in fifth grade they haven't yet learned to think of something like this as "totally gay"-- a mindset many of them won't shake until they get well into high school, if not college, if not ever.