Pitchfork

[Posted Wednesday, September 24th, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to reliable sources close to the band, spelling-deficient Seattle indie darlings Carissa's Wierd have come to a friendly split. There are two farewell shows (with an early one for the kiddies) at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe on November 2nd, with details on the Sad Robot Records website.

Carissa's Wierd began in 1996 as an acoustic collaboration between Tucson, AZ natives Mat Brooke and Jenn Ghetto, who both ferociously vowed to (mis)spell their band's name any damn way they pleased. After moving to Seattle, they released their first album, Ugly But Honest, on friend Ben Bridwell's Brown Records in late 1999. After adding Bridwell on drums as well as a rotation of violinists, they released 2001's You Should Be at Home Here. Both records received widespread critical acclaim throughout the Pacific Northwest for being really beautiful and quiet and still somehow tough. You Should Be at Home Here even began to outsell Weezer's 2001 "Green Album" in some Seattle independent retail stores.

Carissa's Wierd added keyboards, violin, and bass for 2002's Songs About Leaving, released on Sad Robot Records (also home to Terror Sheets and Sin Ropas). Again, critics throughout the Northwest named this new record to year-end top 10 lists, with Seattle weekly The Stranger naming it number one. The band spent 2003 heavily touring the United States prior to the split.

Ghetto will continue with her solo project S and her metal two-piece Crictor, while Brooke and Bridwell are rumored to be heading south to Los Angeles to collaborate with some former members of Treepeople.