Natalie Portman's Shaved Head

The band: NATALIE PORTMAN'S SHAVED HEAD
The album: 'Glistening Pleasure'
The label: Team Swan Records
Release Date: July 15, 2008

And the award for best name of the year for a pop or rock group goes to…Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, at least according to their fans. Now, the electro-pop foursome with the attention-grabbing name is about to go global in a big way with the release of their debut LP, Glistening Pleasure. The album, relentless in its musical pursuit of happiness, features songs about everything you love about that best time in your life! The tracks are energetic, immediately catchy, and irresistibly danceable. And, despite their own youth—they’re 18-20 year olds—there’s not a speck of bubble gum on the disc, with the possible exception of “Bedroom Costume,” a tongue-in-cheek track about innocent, accidental window-peeking, that sparks a secret crush among the boy and girl next door.

Formed a few years ago by friends attending an arts-focused high school in downtown Seattle, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head is comprised of Luke Smith (vocals/guitar/bass/keys), Shaun Libman (vocals/percussion), Claire England (vocals/synth bass/keys), and David Price (vocals/keys/guitar). Smith and Libman started the NPSH phenomenon accidentally while tinkering with old-school synthesizers and drum machines. Because they weren’t at all serious about starting a band at the time, they took the liberty of adding some naughty words to their electro-pop sound and took it public just for laughs. From those initial explorations came something profound and surprising that may quite possibly change the face of pop as we know it. Libman says that it was the facial expressions in the audience that convinced the two to expand the group. With the keys and guitar of the dashing David Price and the in-your-face synth bass of Claire England added to the mix, the line-up is both solid and, at times, inspiring.

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head has come a long way since those first attempts at technology. After winning the audience-favorite award at Soundoff!, the Northwest’s largest battle of the bands, they went on to play at a variety of high profile venues including Bumbershoot 2007 where they were filmed and interviewed by Spin Magazine. Their shows are now packed with instant fans, one of whom was Lovefoxxx of CSS, who is often credited with discovering the band on their myspace. According to legend, she apparently saw something in the group and wanted to encourage it. She proved her devotion by wearing one of their t-shirts on stage and by eventually arranging to have NPSH appear on the bill with them at a sold-out Seattle show last year.

TOUR DATES:
06.26 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
07.30 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue (w/ CSS)
07.31 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall (w/ CSS)
08.05 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus (w/ CSS)
08.07 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero (w/ CSS)
08.09 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (w/ CSS)
08.10 Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues (w/ CSS)

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http://myspace.com/natalieportmansshavedhead
http://natalieportmansshavedhead.blogspot.com