Somewhere in the mysterious underbelly of the city of Seattle, there is a secret garden. This garden is tended to by an elite group of conspirators who form and shape the modern music scene. In short, they grow rock stars. A few years ago, one of the gardeners spilled some Miracle-Gro on two budding musicians. The result? Smoosh.
OK, so the story may be a bit embellished, but I would not be too surprised if it was at least a little true.
Two-piece pop-rock band Smoosh has plenty of time to make their mark on the music world. In fact, they have plenty of time to wait for their first alcohol. Even when the twosome’s ages are combined, they barely make it to legal drinking age. Drummer Chloe is 10, and keyboardist/vocalist Asya is 12.
In a corporate-funded world of 15-year-old pop divas who don’t write their own music, Smoosh is a breath of fresh air compared to many young artists. In describing Smoosh’s debut album “She Like Electric,” which dropped Sept. 21 on the independent Pattern 25 label, words like “innocent” and “sparse” may come to mind, but the phrase “keepin’ it real” may be more accurate. After all, Smoosh just play what they like.
So what do they like? You probably would not find Hillary Duff’s name anywhere near the top of Smoosh’s list of artistic influences. Such a list includes female-fronted acts like Sleater-Kinney and Cat Power and other highly respected artists of the independent music scene, whom Smoosh may have supported in live performance.
While it is apparent that Smoosh has not been around long enough to really refine their sound, there is no doubt that these young women are truly ahead of their time. Music fans willing to take time to listen, quickly find that Smoosh is more than a curiosity-Smoosh is a creative force. We have not heard the last of them.
At 10 years of age, most of us consider eating glue paste in art class to be the pinnacle of our creative energy. It is no great stretch to say that Asya and Chloe have moved past that stage.
At 12 years of age, most of us would have swooned at the chance to meet a rock star or fainted at the thought of just standing in front of a crowd larger than 50 people. Smoosh has played their tunes in front of thousands of music fans while opening for renowned artists The Presidents of the United States of America, veteran indie band Death Cab For Cutie, and several others.
And you thought the “kids” on American Idol rocked.