Chaos Chaos are an American indie

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The band was formed in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

under the name Smoosh in 2000 and adopted their current name in 2012. The band consists of two sisters, who founded the band as children: singer/keyboardist Asya "Asy" Saavedra (born February 2, 1992) and drummer Chloe Saavedra (born March 5, 1994). They released three

LPs LPS may refer to: Science and medicine * Lipopolysaccharide (Endotoxin) * Levator palpebrae superioris muscle Schools * Leighton Park School in Reading, England * Lexington Public Schools, a school district in Massachusetts, USA * Lincoln P ...

as Smoosh, and have produced two further

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, ...

, several singles, and a fourth full-length album as Chaos Chaos.

History

Smoosh: 2000–2012

Smoosh started in 2000 when the family was at a Seattle music store The Trading Musician, standing in line to restring a violin. Asy and Chloe wandered into the drum section of the store, where Chloe met

Jason McGerr Jason McGerr (born July 19, 1974) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band Death Cab for Cutie. Musical career Early years McGerr was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington. At age ten, he began learning to play the ...

, the drummer for

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyb ...

. The family eventually left with a $600 drum kit for Chloe, McGerr's card from the Seattle Drum School, "and no violin."Smoosh
, Pattern 25 Records. Accessed 16 November 2006. When McGerr learned that Asy had been playing the piano and writing songs since she was very young, he offered to help them both. Neither Asy nor Chloe read music. Asy began piano training, but she soon quit because she found it boring. In 2000, Smoosh released ''Tomato Mistakes'', a two-track single that they mailed free of charge to anyone who wanted it. Four years later, in September 2004, Smoosh's full-length debut ''She Like Electric'' was released under Pattern 25 Records. By the time Smoosh released their second LP, on June 6, 2006, titled ''Free to Stay'', they were signed to Seattle-based

indie label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

Barsuk Records Barsuk Records ( ) is an independent record label based in Seattle, Washington, that was founded by the members of the band This Busy Monster, Christopher Possanza and Josh Rosenfeld, in 1998 to release their band's material. Its logo is a drawin ...

. Its third and title track, "Free to Stay", was an early song featured on ''Tomato Mistakes''. Asy also plays guitar on the track 'Waiting for Something' off ''Free to Stay''. The second album also features the song "Find A Way" which Smoosh performed on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's l ...

'' on July 12, 2006, marking their first performance on late night TV. As they toured with

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

as part of a world tour in mid-2006, they are also featured on the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

-based band's live DVD/CD '' Live and in Person! London 2006''. Smoosh 1 main

On August 5, 2007, Smoosh performed at

Lollapalooza 2007 Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Mus ...

at Chicago's Grant Park. Their set included a cover of " This Modern Love" by

Bloc Party Bloc Party are an English rock band, composed of Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, sampler), Russell Lissack (lead guitar, keyboards), Justin Harris (bass guitar, keyboards, saxophones, backing vocals) and Louise Bartle (d ...

, whom they would later tour with that same year in September. Earlier that year, they also performed a headlining spring tour on the east coast with The Postmarks. The band played "Pajama Party Time" on ''

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for imag ...

'' episode 20 of Season 4, originally broadcast in 2002, and again in episode 5 of season 1 of the children's TV series '' Yo Gabba Gabba'' in 2007. The Saavedra sisters have been the only members of the band. Their younger sister, Maia Saavedra, played bass for them in 2007. As Smoosh, critics compared the band's sound to that of

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

and

PJ Harvey Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments. Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined loca ...

and were impressed with the young writers and performers.Lisa Heyamoto
Tweenage band Smoosh rocks Seattle scene
, January 30, 2005. Accessed 12 April 2006. Smoosh opened for many leading

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

bands including

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, ...

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime memb ...

, and the Presidents of the United States of America, as well as for other acts such as

Mates of State Mates of State are an American indie pop duo, active since 1997. The group is the husband-and-wife team of Kori Gardner (born June 16, 1974) (vocals, organ, synthesizer, piano, electric piano, and occasional guitar and drums) and Jason Hammel ...

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They ...

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer- songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as ...

(who also covered their song "Rad"),

Nada Surf Nada Surf is a New York City-based American alternative rock band formed in the 1990s, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), Doug Gillard (guitar, backing vocals), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). History ...

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and

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. Asy collaborated with Seattle indie band Head Like a Kite to create the songs "Noisy at the Circus" (which can be found on Head Like a Kite's first album ''Random Portraits of the Home Movie''), "Daydream Vacation" (which can be found on their second album ''There Is Loud Laughter Everywhere''), and "Let's Start It All Again" (which can be found on their album ''Dreams Suspend Night'', and also available via the KEXP Song of the Day website). Asy also lends her voice to the soundtrack of the musical film '' God Help the Girl'' created by Stuart Murdoch of

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

, where she sings on the songs "I Just Want Your Jeans" and "A Down and Dusky Blonde". She also provided the vocals on the song "I Fell for the Fall" by Swedish band Karma Tree. In early 2008, they toured with

Tokyo Police Club Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2005, it consists of vocalist and bassist Dave Monks, keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook, and drummer Greg Alsop. The band found early success with the ...

and

The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls are an American musical duo from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2000, the group consists of Amanda Palmer (lead vocals and piano; additional: keyboards, harmonica, ukulele) and Brian Viglione (drums and backing vocals; ad ...

. In June 2010, Smoosh released their third album, '' Withershins'' (previously titled ''The World's Not Bad'').

Chaos Chaos: 2012–present

In 2012 the Saavedras changed the band's name to Chaos Chaos, abandoning the name "Smoosh" because the term had become associated with

Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi Nicole Elizabeth LaValle (née Polizzi; born November 23, 1987), best known by her nickname Snooki, is an American reality television personality. She is best known for being a cast member of the MTV reality show ''Jersey Shore'' and starrin ...

after an episode of '' South Park''. Their current name is derived from a historical scientific name for a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudo ...

, which they liken to their music as it is "simple but always changing". Chaos Chaos released an EP, ''S'', on October 16, 2012. On February 23, 2013, they released a single, "In This Place." On October 7, 2014, Chaos Chaos released another EP, '' Committed to the Crime''. One of its tracks, "Do You Feel It?", was featured in the animated sci-fi cartoon ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' season two episode " Auto Erotic Assimilation." This brought the band a lot of recognition. Chaos Chaos provided vocals to

George Watsky George Virden Watsky (born September 15, 1986), better known mononymously as Watsky, is an American rapper, singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, poet, author, and illustrator. Watsky broke out as a rapper with his viral video "Pale k ...

on the song "Brave New World" on his album '' x Infinity'', which released on August 19, 2016. On August 27, 2017, the duo released the single " Terryfold", which features lead vocals from ''Rick and Morty'' co-creator and voice actor Justin Roiland, a longtime fan of the band. The song became the band's first charting single when it debuted at #33 on the ''Billboard''

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternat ...

chart in September 2017. After releasing the singles "Dripping with Fire" and "On Turning 23" in late 2017 and "Pink Politics" in April 2018, the band released the full-length album '' Chaos Chaos'' on May 15, 2018. To promote the album, they also began headlining their first nationwide tour on April 12 of that year. At the request of

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...

, Chaos Chaos and Justin Roiland collaborated a second time to produce a song for

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

(a fan of ''Rick and Morty'') as a birthday present. It was released on West's 41st birthday (June 8, 2018) as a single called "Kanye's B-Day Song" featuring Rick and Morty. In 2019, the band released three singles that are currently unattached to any album: "Armed and Dangerous," "Theaters," and "Improv Song."

Members

;Current *Asya "Asy" Saavedra –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

, keyboards *Chloe Saavedra – vocals,

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, percussion ;Former *Maia Saavedra – vocals,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

, harpejji

Discography

As Smoosh

*''Tomato Mistakes'' (2000) – single *''Free to Stay EP'' (2002) – EP *'' She Like Electric'' (2004) – full-length

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

debut *'' Free to Stay'' (2006) – full-length album *'' Live and in Person! London 2006'' – (

CD and DVD; Smoosh plays on three tracks) *'' Withershins'' (2010) – full-length album

As Chaos Chaos

*'' S'' (2012) – EP *"In This Place" (2013) – single * '' Committed to the Crime'' (2014) – EP * " Terryfold" featuring Justin Roiland (2017) – single, charted at #33 on ''

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 ...

''s

*'' Chaos Chaos'' (2018) – full-length album *"Kanye's B-Day Song" featuring

(2018) – single *"Armed and Dangerous" (2019) – single *"Theaters" (2019) – single *"Improv Song" (2019) – single *"Geography" (2020) – single *"Many Roads" (2020) – single *"Capital T" (2020) – single *"Need You (feat. Madge)" (2020) – single *"ETERNAL" (2021) – single

Gallery

Image:Smoosh at Bumbershoot 2007 - Chloe & Asya 02.jpg, Chloe and Asya, 2007 Image:Smoosh at Bumbershoot 2007 - Maia 01.jpg, Maia, 2007 Image:Smoosh at Bumbershoot 2007 - Chloe 04.jpg, Chloe, 2006 Image:Smoosh at Bumbershoot 2007 - Asya 03.jpg, Asya, 2007

Notes

*McLean, Craig
"Too Much Too Young?"
''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'', June 11, 2006 *Nelson, Sean
"This ''Is'' the Band"
'' The Stranger'', July 22, 2004. Band profile

References

External links

*
Smoosh's Myspace Page
maintained by University of Washington librarian Tom Bolling, very extensive set of links to newspaper stories.

Alexander Laurence
Smoosh on Barsuk RecordsSmoosh Raises the Lights with 'Dark Shine' / Sister Band Smoosh Rocks Kids-at-Work Day
National Public Radio. Two NPR pieces on Smoosh.
Smoosh Notes
A Database of Smoosh information, ranging from articles and media to graphics and fanart.
Smoosh-Links
Archive of Smoosh related links: interviews, bios, videos, etc.
Interview with Asy (via Talk Rock To Me)
August 1, 2012 {{Authority control 2000 establishments in Washington (state) Female musical duos Alternative rock groups from Washington (state) American child singers Child indie musicians Child musical groups Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups from Seattle Sibling musical duos Sibling musical trios Singers from Washington (state) Barsuk Records artists