Purr - Like New

PURR marks the second project from childhood friends and born and raised New Yorkers, Eliza Callahan and Jack Staffen, who have previously released and performed music simply under their own names (Jack and Eliza). The songwriting duo formed PURR in 2017 while seniors in college.

Taking cues from a lineage of dual-lead-vocalist bands with sonic roots in the late 60s and 70s, the pair fluidly oscillates between singing in harmony and unison with their voices often blending to forge what at times can eerily sound like a singular voice. While the songwriting style too makes nods to the same era as do their tones, their music evades placement in any specific time or place.

They approached Sam Glick, a friend of Callahan’s, to record their first two songs they wrote as PURR in Callahan’s parent’s kitchen. Glick also stepped in on bass and brought Max Friedberg along to play drums which led to the band’s natural formation. After sending their demos around, they were offered their first show, opening for Foxygen at Terminal 5. It was that night that they met Jonathan Rado (Father John Misty, The Lemon Twigs, Whitney) who took immediate liking to the band and a year later would record their forthcoming debut album at his Los Angeles studio.