It’s nearly dusk on a chilly-for-L.A. Saturday when synths and sax float through the breeze in a small nook of Elysian Park. A handful of people, and a few dogs, are crowded on blankets spread across the leaf-strewn ground. Pets, the East Coast trio, are in town for a weekend of gigs celebrating their debut album Spiral Question Mark, one of which is here, under a tree, where dark green leaves hang above them like the valance of a stage curtain. Their sound is smooth and rhythmic and more than a little melancholic. It’s a good fit for a day like this one.
“It’s not really about wallowing in that feeling,” says Jonny Campolo of the sad song-heavy debut. “It’s about a solitary kind of confidence that you can have when you’re alone or when you’re sad or emotional or melancholic.”
He adds, “Melancholic music, raw, emotional music is absolutely my favorite kind of music, the kind of records that you can just fall into and live in.”
Pets is Jonny, his brother Nick Campolo and Chase Ceglie. A few days prior to the L.A. gigs, I met up with Jonny and Chase on a video call. Jonny, who is based in Brooklyn, was at home, wearing a Leonard Cohen t-shirt and sitting with stacks of records behind him. Chase, who is based in Newport, Rhode Island, dialed in from Providence.
“Originally, it started as a sort of an open jam,” says Jonny, who has also played in the bands Pill and P.E. Nick had been making beats. Both had the bones of a few new songs that they had written on guitar and piano, but were able to flesh out in the in the studio. “We ended up writing a lot of the music in the studio which is really a privilege,” Jonny explains. “Not many artists get that opportunity. A lot of the times, it’s like you prep everything in advance and then go into a studio and knock it all out.”
Then Chase came into the fold. “It’s funny, when I came in to do woodwind stuff, clarinet, saxophone and flute, I didn’t even think that I would end up being in the band,” he says. But, Chase would go on to contribute to the songwriting and arrangements as well. Soon, they were a band with a full-length album ready to go. “I did not expect that at all,” says Chase. “I’m a solo musician. I played jazz growing up, so the whole band thing was always a little bit foreign to me.”
With microhouse beats, somber melodies and jazzy sax moments, Pets sound is a convergence of sophistipop, Kompakt-style electronic music and the mellow pop vibe of indie bands like Phoenix and Saint Etienne. Jonny describes Pets as the project that’s “closest to the chest” for him. “It’s the most heartfelt and personal project that I’ve ever worked with,” he says.
“It’s two brothers and me, so there’s something that feels very profound about Jonny singing, Nick singing,” adds Chase. He points out that the two brothers sing an octave apart from each other. “Jon has more of a high tenor and Nick just sits an octave below him. Nick has got this crazy baritone,” he says. “That’s where I sit on the saxophone. I kind of slip right in between and harmonize with the two of them. I always feel like their antennas are always tethered.”
Maybe it was because Chase made this comment before I saw Pets live, but, at the Elysian Park show, I can hear how the brothers’ voices and Chase’s sax essentially merge. It’s particularly audible on the live version of “Channels,” where Nick takes the lead.
The Elysian Park show came in the middle of a weekend of L.A. gigs bookended by a Friday night set at Non Plus Ultra and a Sunday night Zebulon show. The trio of gigs were the first shows in Los Angeles for the band, who has mostly played in New York and Rhode Island. “It’s kind of like our first tour and the only other major city we’ll be playing in L.A.,” says Jonny. Their official record release show in New York will be on November 21 at Cassette. Spiral Question Mark is out now and available as a digital, vinyl and CD release on Bandcamp.
As for the future, Jonny says, “One day we’ll have a show where audience members can bring their pets. I don’t know when. I don’t know where, but someone, someday is going to figure this out and we will make it happen. I promise.”
Get Spiral Question Mark by Pets
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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