Please Dept.
Brooklyn, NY
They Might Be Giants, Stephen Malkmus
The often expanding duo of Chris Hembree and Matt Harty of Please Dept. bring you Vomit of Light, an album so full of jovial narratives and stick in your head melodies you’ll be coming back for more.
The longtime project of Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Chris Hembree, Please Dept. has gone through several formations since their start in 2002. “I’ve performed with many setups over the years,” explains Hembree. “Conventional four-piece band, keys and accordion duo with prerecorded beats, and most recently: keys and drums duo (with Matt Harty).” And through such lineup reconfigurations, at its core, Please Dept. is all Hembree. Enlisting the help of whichever contributors happen to be available on any given night, each live set is tailored specifically for the lineup, keeping things “more interesting for everybody.” It’s no surprise then that a band founded on improvisation and change should create songs equally as versatile.
With upbeat indie pop grounded in Hembree’s playful and humor backed vocals, Please Dept.’s fourth and most recent release, Vomit of Light, plays like a catalog of charismatic sing-along’s with fun fueled electronic flourishes. Citing such comparable “talk-singing” vocal influences as Stephen Malkmus and Lou Reed, Hembree’s unconventional lyrics and vocal style remain all his own. And while the majority of Please Dept.’s live performances center around the venues in their native New York City, with hooks so catchy it surely won’t be long until this band hits the road and plays near you – and there’s just no telling what form the band might happen to take next.
[...] Photo by me, interview here. [...]
Really great-sounding voice