Cecil Seaskull / Nerdy Girl

Country of origin:

Canada and U.S.

Type of music generally:

Indie/alternative pop/rock

Status:

Most recent official release, whoever (1998)

See also:

Cecil Seaskull/Cecil Castellucci's site

Wikipedia's entry for Cecil Castelluci

Comparisons:

A cross of Lois (stripped-down sound) and Juliana Hatfield and Lisa Cerbone (high, babyish vocals) with a little of Mary Lou Lord's almost-acknowledged disingenuousness and a touch of early Liz Phair.

Covers/own material:

Own with occasional covers

General comments:

Nerdy Girl is from Montréal, and is basically Cecil Seaskull. The sound is very stripped-down twee indie rock, She has a babyish voice, but it works because the overall sound is so minimalist. Pop. Fun. Alternative. Snarky lyrics. More minimal than noisy—but noisy. I like it a lot. If you run across any of the recordings and you like indie rock, grab them. (Neile)

Comments about live performance:

I first saw Cecil perform without Nerdy Girl two years ago opening for Mary Lou Lord and was utterly underwhelmed by her new acoustic material. Since then, she's been playing occasionally around her new adopted hometown of LA at small cafes continuing to push her girlie acoustic punk. Her sound doesn't come across off nearly as well in live performance as an album. (1998, thecritics@earthlink.net)

Recommended first album:

Whatever you can find

Recordings:

As Nerdy GIrl:

• Nerdy Girl (10" vinyl ep, 1994)
• New Jersey (7" single, 1995)
• Dime Story Hussey (7" single, 1996)
• Twist Her (1996)

  As Cecil Seaskull:

• whoever (1998)

Nerdy Girl (10" vinyl ep)

Release info:

1994—No Life

Availability:

Out of print, label defunct.

Ecto priority:

Recommended for indiepop fans

Group members:

Cecil Seaskull—voice, guitar
Gordon Hashimoto—guitar, voice

Comments:

A great introduction to a fun band. (Neile)

New Jersey (7" single)

Release info:

1995—RightWide Records (Canada)—RWR0011

Availability:

May be possible to find this in Montréal

Ecto priority:

Recommended for indiepop fans

Group members:

Cecil Seaskull—voice, guitar
Gordon Hashimoto—guitar, voice

Produced by:

Gordon Hashimoto, Rod Shearer

Comments:

Three fun songs, including a delightfully odd cover of The Beatles' "She Said She Said". (Neile)

Dime Story Hussey (7" single)

Release info:

1996—No Life/Janken pon (Canada)

Availability:

Out of print, No Life label defunct, but the Janken pon version may still be available in Montréal

Ecto priority:

Recommended for indiepop fans

Group members:

Cecil Seaskull—voice, guitar
Gabriel Levine—guitar
Kim Temple—drums
Ron Woo—bass

Produced by:

Rod Shearer and Nerdy Girl

Comments:

Three more fun songs. Well worth tracking down. (Neile)

Twist Her

Release info:

1996—No Life/Janken pon,(Canada)—NL013

Availability:

Currently digital only

Ecto priority:

Recommended for indiepop fans

Group members:

Cecil Seaskull—voice, guitar
Ron Woo—bass
Gabe Levine—guitar, organ
Kim Temple—drums, vocals, organ

Guest artists:

Geneviève Heistek—violin on one track
Kurt Newman—slide on one track

Produced by:

Rod Shearer and Cecil Seaskull

Comments:

On the edge, strange, alternative, baby-voiced truly fun alternapop. Lovely her snarking at Jane Austen's character, Anne Elliot in the song of that title. (Neile)

whoever

Release info:

1998—teenage USA—teen008

Availability:

Currently digital only

Ecto priority:

Recommended for indiepop fans

Group members:

Cecil Seaskull—guitar, vocals

Guest artists:

Julie McGovern—guitar (1, 4, 12)
John Fisher—bass (1, 12)
Jeff Stone—drums (1, 12)
Melissa auf der Maur—bass, backing vocals (2, 4, 5, 10)
Jonathan Stearns—trumpt (2, 6)
Tim Armstrong—guitar (3)
Kelli Scott—drums (3)
Rufus Wainwright—additional vocals (3)
Chaim Rubenstein—guitar (5)
Tim Spitzer—drums (9)
Jordan Zadorodzny—guitar (10)
Steve Carnan—guitar (11)

Produced by:

Steve Kravac and Cecil

Comments:

If you are an indierock listener and don't mind babyish voices, this is for you. Quite a lot of the time it's for me, too. Cecil Seaskull used to be in Nerdy Girl, so if you liked them, you'll like her solo work, too. Stripped-down, indie sounding, quirky. Yell-singing mocking "I love him! He's perfect!", several soft sincere-sounding love songs, almost Liz Phair-like in the flat honesty of her statement. There's a song in French, too (Seaskull is from Montreal). The tunes are always catchy, and the tunes mostly earnest. Good listening. (Neile)

Notable for having guest appearances by Hole's Melissa Auf Der Maur, Rancid's Tim Armstrong, and songwriter compatriot Rufus Wainwright, whoever brings on reminders of Kathleen Hannah and Juliana Hatfield that doesn't come across off nearly as well in live performance. (thecritics@earthlink.net)

Further info:

Cecil Castellucci also writes well-respected young adult novels.