Fronted by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Shana Levy, Let’s Go Sailing has inspired a devoted following with its lilting indie pop, a tender blend of memorable melodies (informed by Levy’s classical training), sophisticated arrangements, and affecting, heart-on-the-sleeve vocals. The weekly My Little Underground L.A. called its music “beautiful, in that sad sort of way one can only imagine a balloon feels when it finds itself free from a child,” and remarked, “Let’s Go Sailing is hope and love and hurt in a few chosen words and notes.” The Chaos in Order is the band’s full-length debut. LGS took shape in 2002 when Levy asked guitarist Brent Turner (from the outfit Irving, of which Levy herself was a member), bassist Nikki Monninger (Silversun Pickups), cellist Tanya Haden (Haden Triplets), and drummer Byron Reynolds (Possum Dixon) to help her flesh out the songs she’d been writing. After she was approached by producer Rod Cervera (Weezer, The Rentals) to record the Chaos standout “All I Want From You Is Love,” Let’s Go Sailing issued a three-song EP titled Icicles that has sold nearly 1,500 units. Thereafter Levy collaborated with a variety of musician, producer and engineer friends. Those behind the board included Chris Chandler (Flaming Lips, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse), Jim Putnam (Radar Bros.), and Ben Mumphrey (Frank Black). The highly anticipated result, bearing cover art lovingly crafted by Levy, is an album of bittersweet pleasures perfect for late nights, rainy days and wandering upon the waves. Highlights • Sales: Sold approximately 5,000 units of debut full length album The Chaos In Order, 1,500 units of three-song EP Icicles; consistent presence in Top 10 independent sales at market- leader Amoeba Records (L.A.). Over 16,000 digital downloads since release date. • Radio: Repeated airplay at KCRW and Indie 103 (both L.A. market), and WRAX (Birmingham, Ala.); airplay on influential specialty shows “Morning Becomes Eclectic” (KCRW) and “Rodney on the Roq” (KROQ), and on KXLU (all L.A. market); building airplay at college radio • Press: Covered in MTV News Online, NME, Rollingstone.com, Filter.com, L.A. Times (which dubbed LGS a “buzz band”), E! Online, Spin.com, Washington Post, CMJ Online, Campus Circle, and various tastemaker blogs, among them Rock Insider, You Ain’t No Picasso, Said the Gramophone, Large-Hearted Boy and Underrated • Television: Four songs (“Sideways,” “All I Want From You Is Love,” “Better Off,” and “This Rope Is Long”) featured in ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, “All I Want From You Is Love” featured on "Newport Harbor" (MTV, 2008) and also on “One Tree Hill” (CW, 2004); “Better Off” featured on “The Real World Philadelphia” (MTV, 2004). Upcoming placements in The L Word and independent film, The Babysitters. Licensing representation with Bank Robber Music. • Live: National tour March/April 2007 with Elvis Perkins (XL Recordings); 2006 West Coast tour with Harvey Danger; 2006 residency at Spaceland (L.A.); 2005 appearance at Sunset Junction Street Festival with headliners John Cale and The Walkmen (L.A.); have played with Rilo Kiley, Lisa Germano, Lou Barlow, dios (malos), Silversun Pickups, Sleepy Jackson, Birdmonster, Of Montreal, Oh No! Oh My! and Bedroom Walls, among others • Lifestyle/retail: Songs featured in store programming nationwide at retail outlets like Guess, Express, Madewell, Limited, Anne Klein, Enzo, and several boutique shops • You Oughta Know: Let’s Go Sailing songs have been played as the house music at Flaming Lips shows for the past several years; in late 2003, Courtney Love unexpectedly joined LGS in a rendition of their song “Sideways,” which the Hole leader deemed “a hit.” • About the name: Levy relates: “When I was a kid we lived in Miami and we had a sailboat. My brother and I would drag these little plastic boats along in the water and pretend there were little people in them. My dad put a bumper sticker on his Ford Elite that read, ‘Let’s go sailing.’ A few years later a hurricane came and destroyed the boat. I never realized how fondly I’d look back on those times when we took the boat out.”
http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/71643.html
