What happens when a former drum major gets involved in the burlesque and circus scene? Well, according to vaudevillian racounteur and perfomer, Sabrina Chap, the result is a ridiculous explosion of politics, horns and wit called ‘We Are the Parade’. ‘We Are the Parade’ was inspired by a failed photo shoot for Chap’s previous album, ‘Oompa!’, an album filled with piano bar ragtime & heartbreak. After the initial shoot, Chap took a look at the photos and said, “These photos make me want to hear brass, not ragtime tunes. These photos look like my next album.” Armed with the cover art, Chap turned her inner band geek on high and started writing. She turned her pen to the wildly absurd, matters of the heart and the insanity of American politics. From the Prop 8 inspired anthem, “We are the Parade” to the driving tune, “Everything’s Great”, which touches on America’s obsession with self-denial, this witty, political and personal album catches an artist on the verge of an artistic break-through. Inspired by the incidental music on 30 Rock and her job scoring music for the Bindlestiff Cirkus, Chap took her music compositional skills to the test, orchestrating 10 of the 13 tunes. Drummer Lee Free (MEN) anchored the beats through a range of styles including Dixie, Latin and soul. The girls of Brooklyn post- punk soul band, Ava Luna lent their doo-wop vocal stylings, while Corn Mo (Polyphonic Spree) added accordion behind a Julliard trained string trio on the more orchestral tunes. Three different sets of brass (members from Gato Loco, Red Hook Ramblers, Sonia Leigh) retained their original brass flavors on separate tracks, while joining to create a big band sound. Though the album features over 30 musicians, the orchestral sounds on We Are the Parade were often created by recording an instrument at a time. Chap is hitting the road promoting not only the album, but the second edition of her book, ‘Live Through This- On Creativity and Self-Destruction’. Now including an introduction by Amanda Palmer, Chap will flip-flop between lecturing on how to keep sane while creating art, and performing music from the album in a release tour that hits the Northeast, Midwest and the UK. All in all, “We are the Parade” is a virulent second studio release from an artist on the brink of receiving major national attention. * * * * * * SEPIACHORD REVIEW As a premium for being an Indiegogo contributor for Sabrina Chap’s We Are the Parade, I got a lyrics booklet. A Chap-book, if you will. In it, she writes, “Please do not read the stories behind these lyrics without having listened to the songs first, and forming your own opinion on what you think they’re about.” I took her advice and found it rewarding. The album was full of rags, marches, hope and disappointment, but mostly honesty. Chap began playing classical piano at 5, “was a BIG MARCHING BAND geek in high school” (per the lyrics book), flew the folk flag, found ragtime piano and formed the Schlapentickle Family Burlesque and Revue. Her previous album Oompa! was a vaudevillian bounce. We Are the Parade ups the marching ante with fuller instrumentation. It strikes me as being a particularly American album. Having a Bulgarian father and an Ecuadorian mother, Chap says, “I’ve never felt truly American, and was consistently told I wasn’t by my mom.” A sense of musical history runs through the songs, with tastes of ragtime, doo-wop and soul. “When I Grow Up, I’m Gonna Dance” starts with pretty piano tinkling and piles on the instruments. There’s a slathering of Dixieland jazz like “Big Noise from Winnetka” (not the least of which is in the drum break). “One Night Stand Serenade” brings the Sapphic bawdy with a little Benny Goodman. Or maybe Artie Shaw. Anyow, I think it’s a jazzy clarinet, but I’m more interested in lines like “the things I wanna do to you are the things I think you’d like to do to me.” Sabrina goes Latin on “Fly Away.” She calls it her “Gloria Estefan song,” but I think of newer wavier things like Modern Romance. Ladies and gentlemen, Pan Am Flight 409 is leaving for Acapulco in 5 minutes! Things cool down a little for the next few tracks. “I Transatlantically Love You” looks at being together at a distance. “’Til It All Stops” is a waltz on a marimba. “Oh My, Oh Me” countries it up a little with fiddle and backup harmonies. “The Denial Rag” kicks up a rapid-fire patter about “not” seducing a gentleman caller’s sister. Musically, it’s a wild ride. Lyrically, it’s a giggle-fest. “To the Ones Who Never Call Back” may be the closest to her writing in the booklet. It’s funny, honest, to the point and has a mouth like a goddamned sailor. “Everything’s Great” is an oldies-souding toe-tapper. It bops like Sha Na Na. I know that it would be cooler to cite early Roxy Music, but I really enjoyed watching Sha Na Na on Saturday nights when I was little. If you don’t like it, up your nose with a rubber hose. The title track “We Are the Parade” was written in response to California’s ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. How do you fight something like that? With a marching song filled with love, love, love! The song is personal, polticial, loving, a bit angry, hopeful and, well, it just makes sense that this it the title track. “My Poor Heart” is the sultry Stax Records make-out soul song. Except that it’s not. “Wrecking Crew” plays out like the Left Banke’s “Walk Away Renee” (or maybe “Pretty Ballerina”) until the ball comes crashing in when Chap leaves you in shambles. “La Luna La Luna The Moon” paints a picture of the belonging and separateness of her Italian family. You can see the plates if spaghetti and the men watching the game and the women cooking the meals and everyone greeting and saying goodbye with “Ciao!” Except that Sabrina is Bulgarian-Ecuadorian. The scene is so well painted that I was shocked to find this out in the booklet! In that sense, it wraps up why the album is so American. It’s an understanding of heritage whether is via family or music. It’s a first-generation American grappling with what roots may or may not be. Pardon the cornball sentiment, but it’s about yearning to breathe free. **Mr. M plays theremin and other oddball musical devices in the old-timey mad scientist band The White City Rippers. He also spins the amber oldies with the Lords & Ladies DJ crew.