Album Notes

Strawberry is a group of resolutely underground artists and musicians who make music that is at once engrossing to the most refined musical tastes while being unremittingly commercial. Born from the same Chicago scene as Jim O'Rourke, Cheer Accident, the Flying Luttenbachers and Bobby Conn, Strawberry's music is equally experimental, but in an unabashed pop format.

Recorded in Chicago over 2 years, the self-produced debut album received engineering assistance from Danny Leake (Stevie Wonder, Sting, Janet Jackson), Keith Cleversley (Flaming Lips, The Incredible Moses Leroy), Michael Hagler (Wilco, Mekons), and Elliot Dicks (The Nerves, Joan of Arc). The self-titled album sounds like a collision between Missing Persons, Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, and Mötley Crüe. Now throw in Iannis Xenakis, Cole Porter and the Andrews Sisters and you've got it!

Strawberry approaches their glistening pop music from various angles. Ultrafox has developed an international reputation as a sound designer and New Music artist. His other projects include seminal electro-acoustic recordings with Lilith, performances with members of Zoviet-France, and a concert performed on more than 200 cell phones. Lead-guitarist Sledd, a German musico-technocrat, has studied music, statistics and mathematics to refine his interest in avant garde composition. Argon, Sunrider and Sledd are a powerful, serendipitous rock unit who have toured throughout North America and Europe several times over as Bobby Conn's "band." Freedom Lord also plays bass in the Flying Luttenbachers, Chicago's most extreme and notorious free-jazz band. Laci Fibonacci and Cindi Caramels form Strawberry's Maxi-Vixen Mega-Vox Unit, delivering sugary sweet harmonies while performing their patent-pending synchro-sensual dance moves. Laci is also well known for her performances as Misty Martinez. Guest musicians include artists from Lake of Dracula, My Name is Rar Rar, Jim O'Rourke, Bobby Conn.

Strawberry's website (www.strawberryplanet.org) offers mp3 samples from the album and streaming video.

Chicago Sun-Times:
"This odd, ever-shifting ensemble has built a cult following for its absurdly ambitious mix of synth-pop, art-rock, and over-the-top theatricality."

The Chicago Reader (CRITIC'S CHOICE):
"The band's debut album, Strawberry (Taigkyo), is an elaborate wedding cake of sunny Europop... warped rock... robotic disco... vapid balladry... and scathing punk."

Terminal City (VANCOUVER):
"a liquid plastic robot bubble gum universe."

Seth Sanders (CONCERT REVIEW):
"so far beyond either a revival or a critique of the 80's that I have trouble expressing what it's like...maybe some kind of sick Platonic Form of platform-heel Space Fag God Rock..."