Bio

SOME advance listeners claim they can hear the benign, bearded influence of Kenny Loggins in almost every song on Chop Chop's self-titled debut, Chop Chop. There are also rumours circulating that this album was secretly produced by the mad genius behind Celine Dion's most beloved chart toppers.

Let us put an end to this Kenny Loggins nonsense now. His influence is nowhere to be found on this album. Were anyone to utter such crap, he would be immediately bundled into a taxi, driven to an abandoned industrial park, and pummeled by unknown assailants. However, it is not entirely inconceivable that Ms. Dion's maestro fiddled with a few knobs here and there.

This is what is actually known about Chop Chop. It is the musical creation of Ms. Catherine Cavanagh, who wrote, sang, produced, engineered, and thought very hard about every song on the album. She also played guitar, drum machine, and occasionally bass and keys. Catherine was joined by Christy Cheng on keyboards and Carla Caruzzo on bass. The name Chop Chop is inspired by the double 'C' initials of each of the musicians (as 10cc was taken a very long time ago and 11cc just sounds silly). Since recording the album, Ms. Cavanagh has decreed that anyone associated with Chop Chop has the initials CC, even if it means legally changing her/his name.

This is what is known about Chop Chop's album. It was recorded in an attic apartment behind the railyards of Allston, Massachusetts, a student ghetto where on any night you can stroll the streets to the sounds of countless up-and-coming local bands and vomiting students. The album features 12 or 13 songs, each quite different from the other, encompassing sounds ranging from guitar rock to electronica. It could not have been recorded anywhere other than Allston; the neighborhood is part of Chop Chop's canvas, especially the sounds of trains at night and the desolation of the railyard. Aubrey Anderson of Skating Club added a sunny Saturday feeling to the mix, as he spent many a sunny Saturday mixing the songs. Since finishing the album, Chop Chop have been playing like mad, with a lineup that includes Catherine and Jason Pancake on bass.