Originally released on compact disc by Magic Marker Records (Dear Nora, Tullycraft, The Bats, Lunchbox, All Girl Summer Fun Band) Kissing Book members also played in The Mooney Suzuki, The I Live The Life of a Movie Star Secret Hideout, The Mantels, The Mosquitoes, Andrew Kaffer, Stuffed Shirts. Kissing Book formed during the anti-grunge backlash of the mid-90’s, in peak Elliott Smith-era Portland. The indie-pop group stood out from their peers by incorporating their undying adoration of cool jazz, bossa nova, hip-hop and R&B, landing in a smooth and shiny realm somewhere between The Sea and Cake and The Spinanes. In the early 00s, the band recorded two albums produced by renowned indie-pop home producers: their smart and moody debut LP Lines & Color with Martyn Leaper (The Minders) and its loopy, candy-coated follow-up, Kissing Book(s) with Dusty Reske (Rocketship.) For the better part of the aughts, Kissing Book relentlessly toured the USA and Australia/New Zealand. When they weren’t headlining, the group supported stellar contemporaries such as The Lucksmiths, Glossary, Poundsign, Dear Nora and Dirty Projectors. Kissing Book’s recent third album S11NGLES compiles tracks recorded during their semi-hiatus years, when members all lived in different cities (PDX, NYC, SF) and played in other groups (The Mooney Suzuki, The Mantels, The Mosquitoes, Andrew Kaffer, Stuffed Shirts) Currently reunited in Portland, the group is recording a new album with a healthy mix of their classic sound and a new foray into uncharted sonic territory. Kissing Book has returned as a bright and formidable live act; the band is looking forward to a slew of national tour dates when their new LP is released.
