Cassie Ramone (AKA Grzymkowski) is a Brooklyn based singer/songwriter and guitarist best known for her work in Vivian Girls and The Babies.
Hi, Debbie! How have you been? I’m doing pretty good over here — just sitting around at home listening to the new Fresh & Onlys album Long Slow Dance. You like them, right? You know I’m a huge fan; I love pretty much everything they’ve ever done.
Remember that Woodsist/Captured Tracks Festival on the 4th of July in 2009? Right under the J/M/Z? That was such a fun day… I feel like that’s where we first saw them. Actually I think you might have been over at the bodega flirting with Fred, ha-ha, what a disaster that became! But they were so good that day!
I know we’ve talked about this a lot, but I feel like sometimes I’m almost scared to listen to an album a band makes after their breakthrough. Because a breakthrough especially in this digital age can change the mindset of a band forever and can lead them to make some weird, non-organic decisions. So I was a little scared, because I loved Play It Strange so much, ya know?
Anyway, I really like Long Slow Dance, and I think you would too. It’s really great! The songwriting, instrumentation, and production are all very good. I think you would really like the song “Dream Girls.” It’s definitely one of my favorites on the record. It has this melody that sounds like something you’d write on an acoustic guitar in your living room in the late morning with the sun beaming through the windows, with a half empty coffee mug next to you. Just messing around like it’s the easiest thing in the world to write.
A few songs have touches that are almost corny to me, like the horns section in “Executioner’s Song” and the keyboard strings in “Fire Alarm.” You might be into it though, considering the music you make. Still it never gets grating, I think because the chord progressions on both songs are especially strong. Also on “Foolish Person,” I found the lyrical schemes a little awkward at first but halfway through the song I realized that was one of the catchiest things about it, and by the end it had become one of my favorites. The album’s kinda sneaky like that!
Oh, and the last song “Wanna Do Right By You” is perfect! It reminded me of you so much! Remember that time we went dancing at that random doo-wop night in San Bernardino with that weird cover (or was it?) band whose name we never caught? They were so good. This song reminds me of that. God, I miss those days!
Anyway, I hope everything’s going good with you. How’s Kyle and the cat? I miss you so much. Write back soon!
Love,
Cassie
