Bridget and the Squares

Laura Bridget Regan of Bridget and the Squares is coming back to town and talks about Brooklyn, finding her sound and why you should never go to Waffle House.
Six years ago this was all just a pipe dream. A year and a half ago, it was a dead end. These days, in a phone interview that found Laura Bridget Regan and her two band mates in Bridget and the Squares driving through Georgia on their first ever tour, Regan says she’s finally found the way forward.
“It was very hard for me to get to the point where I’m at now where I feel like I’m a stronger bandleader, and I actually have more of a vision, and I know what I want,” Regan said from the backseat of the band’s rental car. “It took me a long time. Now I’m at this point where I’m like, ‘this is what I want, I know it’s right,’ and I’m just pushing it forward from here.”
That drive is what helped to save a band that seemed to have hit a wall. Playing music in Boston for over six years, earlier versions of Bridget and the Squares had fizzled out almost completely by late 2009, and Regan began to look for a change. She found it in Brooklyn, new band mates and a brand new music scene ready to welcome her with open arms.
“Playing indie-pop, I didn’t feel like there were a lot of bands [in Boston] that were comparable to us,” she said. “My main goal in New York was to find new band mates and then intricate myself into whatever music scene that I felt my music fit best in… New York is so big that there’s so many more opportunities and options for bands in every genre.”
The restored confidence and the new band members led to the release in June of Bridget and the Squares’ debut recording Still Life, which included some songs that were six years in the making. The trio’s album represented a benchmark; it was a chance to document what Bridget and the Squares had been, and use that as a launching pad for what Bridget and the Squares is becoming. And that, said Regan, is what excites her the most.
“Still Life is actually pretty consistent with what we sounded like the first three years of Bridget and the Squares – we were quirky, it was really straight-ahead indie pop,” she said. But with a new lineup comes new takes on songs and a new direction – an evolution that Regan hopes to embrace and capture with a new EP this year. “We have a heavier sound, a more aggressive approach to our music now… that’s the best thing about music, is that you never stay in the same place. You keep getting better.”
So with the band off on their first tour, a venture which began in Regan’s adopted home of New York and has taken off down the East Coast before finishing up with a hometown show in Boston this Sunday, a short learning curve has taken effect (“We’ve learned to not eat at Waffle House. Waffle House is always a big mistake”). But mainly they say, the tour has been full of affirmation so far and, more importantly, validation.
“A friend of mine, Jinsen Liu (of the band 28 Degrees Taurus), told me once that the road is either going to make you or break you,” she said. “When you go out on tour, that’s when you’re going to learn: am I good enough? If you can’t go on the road and impress people night after night, then why are you doing it?” - The Daily Free Press - Boston, MA

C.D. On Songs: Bridget & The Squares - “Leprosy”
Posted by C.D. Di Guardia
Sunday is going to certainly be a day. We already told you about Box Five in Cambridge. And should you find yourself in the Allston area Sunday night, we got you covered there too. Our “old” friends Night Fruit are playing with Teletextile and Huddled Masses at O’Brien’s, and it seems that winner of the award for Best C.D. On Songs Album Art, 2009/crazy cat woman Amanda Dellevigne is going to be pulling double duty, working it with both her band Night Fruit and today’s super-duper feature band Bridget & The Squares. Don’t worry, it’s just a clever name – Amanda is not a square. Bridget is no square either – she is a rather talented frontwoman who has been working stages from Boston to Brooklyn as of late, charming everyone with her strong vocals and snazzy attire that sometimes sparkles almost as bright as the vocals. Catch it all at O’Brien’s this Sunday.

Bridget & The Squares - “Leprosy”
[Download It!]

At the very first breath, Bridget & The Squares’ “Leprosy” is an utterly disarming (get it? get it?) track, thanks to Laura “Bridget” Regan’s intimate-sounding recording. Regan’s voice rings, booms and howls around the walls of whatever tiny room this track was recorded within, as if it’s pushing outward with each syllable, just waiting to bust through. If Regina Spektor gently tickles the melody with her voice, Bridget distracts the melody with one hand and then seizes it with the other, bending it to her will with delicious results.

Regan isn’t all just blood and thunder – her vocals can move from “explosion” to “whisper” in less than a four-count. Her vocals alternately explode and flow, as she, together with the listener, explores each syllable and note that makes up phrase and melody. Each note lives (and sometimes dies) in full color glory, sometimes even overwhelming the recording equipment. This adds to the raw sense of intimacy that this track possesses, and makes the song all the more engaging.

“Leprosy” asks several questions of both real and figurative aspects of the disease – Regan’s vocal sounds as if it isn’t just afraid it’s going to fall apart – it is absolutely sure of it. I’m not even sure if leprosy is still a thing, but Bridget is coming up with contingency plans should she lose her legs (will you hold her?) or her fingers (will you play the piano?) or even ultimately fall apart. Regan lets her voice act out the scenario, seemingly falling apart but reassembling itself for the beginning of the next measure. We are sure that Bridget is in fine health and in no danger of losing any limbs; I mean – listen to that voice. - Boston Band Crush

This is a lengthy interview, but great perspectives on the current state of the music industry and the future of BaTS! Definitely listen, wonderful conversation, thanks Christina! - Christina Avina

BRIDGET & THE SQUARES
— Still Life
Though her debut Still Life was more than four years in the making, Laura B. Reagan has endured the various lineup changes in her piano pop band Bridget & the Squares to put forth a highly personal, emotionally charged album that sounds cohesive and purposeful. Embodying the darker, toothier side of such songwriters as Sara Bareilles and Michelle Branch, the native Bostonian Reagan tells tales of mystifying life changes and doomed romance in the plainest of terms. In a way, the album hovers much closer to punk than pop, with production values that go easy on the bottom end to play up her warm, yet cynical vocal affectations. She eschews the commercial side of her clearest influences by disregarding hooks almost altogether in favor of bursts of raw emotion. In what might be a inference from her intraband turmoil over the last few years, her guitar and percussive accompaniment are only modestly utilized and serve mostly to amplify Reagan’s occasional outburst. They’re most prevalent on tracks like “Savior,” where she pushes her normally laidback croon into Fiona Apple-esque bitterness, and “There Are Ghosts In My Pants,” the closest thing to true pop the album has to offer. The album’s most complete track in that regard is undoubtedly “Treat Me Bad,” a song that ebbs and flows in intensity while dancing around the title’s implications. There’s a rich sound to be heard when the band comes together in these rare instances, but she’s most arresting when it’s simply her and a piano. In “Addicted,” she uses deceptive cadence to relay frustrations in giving up life’s simplest pleasures: coffee, beer, cigarettes and her penchant for ephemeral relationships. It’s simple, good and most importantly, relatable, fun for anyone who’s ever had an axe to grind, but like her closing track suggests, don’t expect much from it, and you’ll get the most from it. - Yes Weekly - Greensboro, NC

Be prepared to be intrigued by Boston-based Bridget and the Squares. The experimental indie-pop quartet hopes to burst onto the local scene with their self-described "vagina rock" sound. What on earth is "vagina rock"? Pianist and lead vocalist Laura Regan proudly declares, "We are coining that term right now ... vagina rock is the opposite of cock rock ... we're girl-rock, but we're not a girl band." The band doesn't want to mystify listeners with their slightly unconventional self-description. Bridget and the Squares ultimately want to draw fans who appreciate well-constructed, upbeat and classy tunes. "We really try to make our songs move somewhere," explains bassist Jason Kessel. "I think we really try to have [more] concrete songs that go somewhere and end at a logical point."


Bridget and the Squares have an interesting story behind their band name. Regan's middle name is Bridget, and while she attended Berklee College of Music for songwriting and music business, "the Squares" (Kessel and guitarist Josh Brekman) became engineers. "Laura went to art school," explains Kessel, "and we all went to technical school, so we're a bunch of nerds — we're a bunch of squares." Kessel jokes, "I guess we're pretty square ... and, well, Bridget is kind of a square name ... and then [drummer] Andrew [Kessel] came along and completed the square." Luckily, this quirky, friendly group creates music that is certainly far from becoming "square."


The band writes in somewhat of a collaborative manner, yet Regan is primarily responsible for the songs."I write the whole song together, [but] occasionally I write the music first and then write the lyrics," she says. The mood-driven, Fiona Apple-like tracks are inspired by Regan's personal experiences and inherent creativity. "There's a theme that comes together the first time I clunk the chords out on the piano," Regan explains, "and then the theme usually guides the rest of the song." To give an example of a "theme," Regan adds, "I have a song I'm writing right now that's about going out to shows." However, this lady is also unafraid to tackle heavier material, using her sultry, wide-ranging voice to carry lyrics concerning personal relationships and darker times. Regardless, the band allows their sense of humor to shine through. Regan explains that the song, "Ghosts in my Pants" was "actually a really sad song, so we decided to write a title that was really goofy, because it's a really poppy-sounding song."


Blending this endearing lightheartedness with an intense drive, Bridget and The Squares are determined to take their music as far as they are able. Their poppy brightness is musically refreshing, but the band seems to have a knack for grounding cheery songs with darker piano chords, subdued drums and introspective lyrics. For example, their song "Winter" maintains sharp, jumpy guitar chords with melancholic piano and sweeping, bluesy vocals. Currently, the band wants to bring this unique sound all over Boston. Regan excitedly explains that Bridget and the Squares hope "to play a lot of different kinds of shows — to play a lot of dive bars, play a lot of good venues, play with a lot of good bands [and] to make a lot of friends." Yet she remains realistic, understanding that "it's foolish to plan ahead too far because you never know what's going to happen ... we could get a record deal in a month or we could get a record deal in five years ... who knows?"

Written by: Miriam Lamey - Northeast Performer

Sounding all too much like a nursery rhyme heroine, little Bridget has lost her Squares, found new ones, and now feels comfortable wandering into the woods either Squar-ed or Square-less. Laura “Bridget” Regan seems to mature with every musical release.
Regan has an inviting and reassuring presence on record, her voice somewhere between the sinking weight of Fiona Apple and the “faeries alight on my shoulder” whimsy of Regina Spektor. Regan sounds perfectly balanced between the two vocally, but her songwriting and piano playing seems to come from somewhere else.
Regan’s songwriting seems to come very much from a “band” place and not a “solo artist” place. “Left for Dead” is a full-on band effort, complete with non-piano instruments and some nice backing vocals performed nicely by non-Regan voices. “Left for Dead” is a fairly swinging tune, in the sun-shiny pop spirit of older groups such as The Zombies, if only The Zombies were led by a strong-voiced young woman in a shiny dress.
Written by: cd. diguardia - Boston Band Crush

The Orange Ocean set the tone for the night early on this drizzly Wednesday evening. The instruments set up on the stage were all low and close to the floor, with seemingly nothing above waist level. The music followed suit, as singer/vocalist Daniel Burke stood at a massive electric piano at center stage and started comping out low-range blocky chords starting the triad of primarily keyboard-based bands.
The Orange Ocean seem as if they are inevitably going somewhere. Perhaps it was the weird Elton John-inspired bass note/chord combinations between Burke and bassist Stu Pynn or perhaps the anxious beat of Kurt Dyrli's drums, but The Orange Ocean's sound is that of a cresting wave that grows yet never seems to break. Burke flitted about from digital piano to a Wurlitzer electric piano set up perpendicular to the front-facing digital keyboard. Burke seemed much more comfortable seated at the Wurlitzer than standing at the digital piano.
Listeners familiar with the headlining act that thought they knew where this night was going found themselves quite wrong upon the appearance of the arty Teletextile. A gauntlet of instruments (keyboards, small-scale synthesizers, another Wurlitzer, a medium sized harp, a trumpet and a violin) turned the stage into some weird sort of laboratory maze, where the subjects move about and play with different noisemakers. The set started somewhat roughly, thanks to a persistent loop that would not be silenced. This led to an extended interstitial between songs that may have led to a mutiny if not for the buoyant presence of front-woman Pamela Martinez. She is comfortable onstage with good reason; her impressive voice wells up from her small frame, leading the audience to wonder if that huge voice is really coming from this mere mortal on the stage. Teletextile's apparent reliance on pre-recorded tracks seemed somewhat overwrought; they merely need to provide a canvas for Martinez.
The ultimate set of the night came from Bridget and the Squares, although the diminutive Bridget informed the audience that this evenings Squares were actually more like Shills, filling in for the soon-to-be Squares. Bridget-and-the-Shills performed well after an odd mini-set by Bridget (real name: Laura Bridget Regan) away from her customary piano and playing acoustic guitar. Whatever instrument she plays, Regan's charms lay in her voice which lays somewhere on the register between a sultry Fiona Apple and an elfin Regina Spektor. Regan shatters the "little girl" thing with the occasional lyrical expletive, which seemed a bit over the top at times. A night of full of keyboards and small women with impressive pipes was a change from the general Allston guitar-driven extravaganza, and a showcase of three different yet similar styles coming to mesh in one evening.
-Review by C.D. Di Guardia - Northeast Performer