Who’d have guessed that somebody would bring up Rick Springfield?
The native Australian who recorded “Jessie’s Girl” may not be very hip these days, but Brian McClelland, the bass player and elder statesman of St. Louis pop combo Middle Class Fashion, drops the name of the ’80s icon with an unapologetic reverence—not to mention unabashed enthusiasm.
“I like some stuff that’s less cool,” he confesses. Of course, what is cool or not can be deemed only by an individual’s aesthetic thermometer. For its part, Middle Class Fashion (comprising, as pictured on the facing page, Brad Vaughn, McClelland, Jenn Malzone, and Katie Lindhorst) has had no problem warming up to success—and the decidedly unmercurial pop band actually has another connection to the continent Down Under.
“We had a spike in iTunes sales in Australia,” says McClelland, talking about the group’s new album, Girl Talk. Though he doesn’t pretend to know exactly why the music’s taken off in the land of Springfield, he freely admits the proceeds will come in handy. “It’s funding a whole new recording project,” he says. “We’re actually going back into the studio to record a second record.”
While McClelland may be the pop historian of the band, the vision—not to mention the songwriting—is the near-sole territory of pianist Malzone, whose short dark hair and bookish glasses paint her as an intellectual with perhaps just a tinge of post–Go-Go’s girl-power.
She echoes McClelland. “We were surprised about how well Girl Talk went over,” she says. “We were so into our other projects, and once we made that recording, we were really proud of it. We got really good iTunes sales and started getting more people at our shows—and getting pretty good local sales, too.”
At that point, Middle Class Fashion went from a side project to a core consideration. And as is the case with so many musical artists who find themselves thriving, or at least existing, in the zeitgeist of the Internet, Middle Class Fashion has the goal of spreading its own word, rather than hinging its future on the hope of being discovered by a bloated, dinosaurian label.
Malzone’s objective is “writing the best songs I can, and enjoying collaborating with these talented people.” (And traveling with them, too. The band has toured places like Dayton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, and as time and money permit, the members want to take its music as far as it will go—literally and figuratively.)
At some point, the band may earn the keys to various cities, but for now the keys remain, rather mellifluously, under Malzone’s trained fingertips.
“I was forced into piano lessons starting at age 5,” she says. “My mom is a piano teacher, and my dad owns a piano gallery.” Those lessons have paid off. Malzone’s highly literate songs, simultaneously subtle and bubbly, are like thinly bladed confessionals skating on a sheet of classical ice. Still, Malzone doesn’t quite consider herself a virtuoso.
“I’m a songwriter—and piano is the easiest for me. I don’t have to think about it,” she says. This sing-along–friendly band isn’t trying to be quirky or arm melodies with jarring bursts of angst-riddled noise. “Fun Whoa” has a resilient chorus, and “Jamie,” a Malzone-McClelland composition, is like neatly wrapped bubble gum. Those are just two standouts; the rest of the album nicely follows suit. Being fashionable is actually an afterthought.
“What’s really funny,” adds the newest member, Lindhorst, “is that even before I started playing with you guys, I noted what you wore and thought, ‘That’s so cool!’” The next thing she knew, Lindhorst was donning a pop-friendly skinny tie and making a Middle Class Fashion statement of her own.
For show dates, news, and information about Girl Talk and Middle Class Fashion’s self-titled EP, go to middleclassfashion.com.
