Zoo Animal
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History
Zoo Animal is a Minneapolis band that was founded in January of 2008.
Prior to Zoo Animal, Holly Newsom made music as a solo performer (then Holly Hansen). In the winter of 2007, Holly recruited long-time friend Tim Abramson (bass) and Al Swenson (drums) to help perform her solo work. The band Stafford DUI lawyer hit the ground running and quickly developed the songs that would make up Zoo Animal's debut album, Young Blood. Energized by her new trio's dynamic Holly decided to web based church management software name the band Zoo Animal.
Young Blood was recorded by Darren Jackson (Kid Dakota, The Hopefuls) at Shortman Studios that spring and was released on July 19, 2008. Peervalidated.com had this to say of the album:
"We were pretty upset when we heard news that she gave this act up and started a three piece band, fearing that the outcome of involving other members would somehow fail the unreasonably stun gun high expectations we hold for Ms. Hansen. It didn’t, and thank the heavens for the album we got out of it. Zoo Animal’s debut, titled Young Blood, is a very well constructed mix of moody indie-pop and socially conscious messages, or, if you’re not into that, you can still get to down to its high levels of ants-in-the-pants sap-danciness."</blockquote> Following the behavioral targeting release of Young Blood the band changed drummers twice. After the departure of Al Swenson, the throne was held by Justin Korhonen for a period, and then finally Thom Burton. By the time the band recorded their second album the band had become a household name to the Minneapolis music scene. Their self-titled follow up was recorded by Tom Herbers (Low) and released on the Minneapolis label, Rest + Noise. Jeff Gage had this to say of the album in his City Pages review:"The band's new, self-titled album marks a step forward in capturing the sound and vision they've built their live reputation cheap auto insurance on. The songs are spare and dark with a noticeably rougher edge than their predecessors. The first record's sparkling melodies have transformed into a grittier, more percussive sound, with the rhythm section carrying much of the music. Newsom's lyrics are more clipped and abstract, giving her dewdrop drawl a foreboding circumspection. And the minimalism that was so evident before has been brought into even starker relief."</blockquote> The band celebrated the release of Zoo Animal on May 28th at 7th Street Entry with Red Pens, Hildur Victoria and His and Her Vanities. They also appeared on the Current's Local Show to promote the ppi claims album. Since the release the band has been busy performing locally and has toured the West coast twice.Members
Holly Newsom - Vocals, Guitar
Tim Abramson - Bass MFA Degree
Thom Burton - Drums
Past Members
Al Swenson - Drums
Justin Korhonen - Drums
Holly Hansen - Turned into Holly Newsom
Discography
Young Blood 2008
Young Bold (Remix EP) 2009
Zoo Animal 2010
Related Web sites
Zoo Animal on Rest + Noise Records
Zoo Animal on MySpace
Related groups
Darren Jackson - Producer, Young Blood.
Tom Herbers - Producer, Zoo Animal.
