It Was Romance is an American rock band formed by

Lane Moore Lane Moore is an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, musician, writer, and director, living in New York, New York. Career She is a former writer for ''The Onion'' and ''The Onion Book of Known Knowledge: A Definitive Encyclopaedia Of Exi ...

. It began as the bedroom recording project of lead singer and songwriter Moore, who years later added a backing band. Moore is the chief songwriter, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, using an electric

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

with distortion that she plays like an electric guitar as well as piano, synthesizer, accordion, bass guitar, and percussion. Bust magazine called ''It Was Romance'' The Best Band Of 2015.

History

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

premiered their first single, "Philadelphia" off their self-titled debut in 2015.

Paste Magazine ''Paste'' is an American monthly music and entertainment digital magazine, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with studios in Atlanta and Manhattan, and owned by Paste Media Group. The magazine began as a website in 1998. It ran as a print publi ...

described their sound as "hearkening back to a Dig Me Out era Sleater Kinney, Moore’s expansive sound covers love and all its mishaps with a catchy, blast loud and sing proud thoughtfulness. Blending garage rock with soul and experimental undertones, It Was Romance...walks multiple genres with a deft grace to mirror Moore’s bubbly wit and eye-catching presence." The band released a music video for the first single "Philadelphia" in June 2015. The video was directed by Moore and was an homage to the

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

film

Cry-Baby ''Cry-Baby'' is a 1990 American teen musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Waters. The film stars Johnny Depp as 1950s teen rebel Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, and also features a large ensemble cast that includes Amy Locane, ...

, with Moore playing

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

and

Traci Lords Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

praised the video. Curve Magazine called the video "badass."

Out Magazine ''Out'' is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. ''Out'' was owned by Robert Hardman of Boston, its original investor, until 2 ...

praised the video as well. The music video for "Hooking Up With Girls" was released in late 2016 on the front page of

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

. The video is a shot-for-shot remake of

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She released five albums from 1996 to 2020, all of which reached the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart. As of 2021, she has sold over ...

's "Criminal" music video. Moore starred in and directed the music video. The video was featured in

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

, BUST Magazine, Refinery 29, and

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

's AV Club

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

and ''The Observer'' praised Moore for the video The Laugh Button described Moore's voice as, "incredible oice smoky and edgy and closely resembling the kind of stuff soulful grunge bands aspired to back in the 90s." In 2017, Moore created a music series at

Arlene's Grocery Arlene's Grocery is a bar and music venue located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is located at 95 Stanton Street between Orchard St and Ludlow St. The venue was opened by Shane Doyle and two partners in 1995. Shane Doyle was also owner ...

called "90s Albums Live," with the first one being the ''

Empire Records ''Empire Records'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Allan Moyle, written by Carol Heikkinen, and starring an ensemble cast including Anthony LaPaglia, Maxwell Caulfield, Debi Mazar, Rory Cochrane, Johnny ...

'' soundtrack, which It Was Romance performed live. Also in 2017, ''

'' named It Was Romance one of 16 Female-Fronted Bands You Should Know.

Discography

Studio albums

*''It Was Romance'', self-released, 2015

Videos

* "Philadelphia" * "Hooking Up With Girls"

References

External links

{{Commons category, Musical groups established in 2009
It Was Romance
on Bandcamp 2009 establishments in New York City Alternative rock groups from New York (state) American blues rock musical groups American folk rock groups American musical quartets Garage rock groups from New York (state) Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from Brooklyn