U.S. Girls | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Meghan Remy |
Born | 1985 (age 38–39) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2007–present |
Labels |
|
Website | yousgirls |
U.S. Girls is a Toronto-based experimental pop project formed in 2007, consisting solely of American musician and record producer Meghan Remy.[3] She had released music on a variety of independent record labels before signing to 4AD in 2015.[4]
Half Free, her first record for 4AD, was released the same year.[5] It garnered a Juno Award nomination for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016,[6] and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize.[7] Her next records In a Poem Unlimited (2018)[8] and Heavy Light (2020)[9] also received the same accolades.
Remy collaborates with a number of Toronto-based musicians on both songwriting and music production.[10][11]
Remy grew up in Illinois and attended a Catholic high school. She was raised mostly by her mother. She was in her first punk band as a teenager. She cites riot grrrl and Crass as some of her early influences.[12]
She attended an art college in Oregon, concentrating on paper arts and graphic design.[13]
The name "U.S. Girls" originated from a casual conversation she was having with a friend talking about a European band coming to town. She joked, "Wait 'til they get a look at these U.S. girls!" and the phrase stuck.[14]
Remy began making music in the mid-2000s, playing in bands in Chicago and Portland. In 2008 she started recording solo at home.[14]
After signing to 4AD in 2015, first album Half Free received critical acclaim from publications including The Quietus.[15] She performed the album at festivals through 2016, including Primavera Sound.[16]
In 2018, Remy's sixth studio album, In a Poem Unlimited, was released on 4AD.[17] and was awarded Pitchfork's Best New Music accolade.[18] She made her Coachella debut in 2019 as part of the album cycle.[19]
2020's Heavy Light was released shortly before the pandemic, preceded by singles "4 American Dollars" and "Overtime".
Her 2023 album Bless This Mess was longlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize.[20]
In 2021, Remy released her first book, Begin by Telling, published by Bookhug Press.[21] CBC.ca wrote that " experimental pop sensation Meg Remy spins a web out from her body to myriad corners of American hyper-culture. Through illustrated lyric essays depicting memories from early childhood to present day, Remy paints a stark portrait of a spectacle-driven country."[22]
Remy later moved the band to Toronto from Chicago in 2010 after marrying Canadian musician Max "Slim Twig" Turnbull.[23] Alongside Turnbull, she operates record label Calico Corp., and sometimes performs as a guest vocalist with Turnbull's Badge Époque Ensemble.[24]
She is a permanent resident of Canada.
Studio albums
Split albums
EPs
Live albums
Compilations
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
---|---|---|---|
US AAA [25] | |||
"U.S. Girls Cassingle": Found on the Ground/St Jude Boys Choir[26] | 2008 | — | Non-LP singles |
"Me + Yoko"[27] | 2009 | — | |
"Lunar Life"[28] | 2010 | — | |
"Salt Road"/"Won't Bother I"[29] | — | ||
"The Boy Is Mine" (Split single with Deep Purr)[30] | 2011 | — | U.S. Girls on Kraak |
"The Island Song"[31] | — | ||
"Jack"[32] | 2012 | — | Gem |
"Slim Baby"[33] | — | ||
"Rosemary"[34] | — | ||
"Damn That Valley"[35] | 2015 | — | Half Free |
"Woman's Work"[36] | — | ||
"Window Shades"[37] | — | ||
"M.A.H"[38] | 2017 | — | In a Poem Unlimited |
"Velvet 4 Sale"[39] | — | ||
"Pearly Gates"[40] | 2018 | — | |
"Rosebud"[41] | — | ||
"Overtime"[42] | 2020 | — | Heavy Light |
"4 American Dollars"[43] | 33 | ||
"Santa Stay Home"[44] | — | Non-album single | |
"Junkyard"[45] | 2021 | — | Bills & Aches & Blues (various artists) |
"So Typically Now"[46] | 2022 | — | Bless This Mess |
"Bless This Mess"[47] | — | ||
"Futures Bet" | 2023 | — | |
"Tux"[48] | — |