LOVE LOVE

I’d tell Chris Toppin to move to Nashville and make a million bucks penning tunes for country starlets, but I’m too selfish — I want her songs and voice here in Boston. Not even Miranda Lambert would know what to do with such a scorching murder ballad (rave up?) as Love Love’s “Murderpedia.”

With fellow singer and songwriter Jefferson Davis, Toppin mines rootsy rock ’n’ roll (from Nashville to Neil Young) on Love Love’s EP, out now. When not doing homicide centered songs, the pair and their backing band twang, pick and power chord their way through six strong tracks. Both have serious writing chops (as fans of past projects Ex-Girlfriends and Fuzzy know), but it’s when they tag team vocals that the EP shines brightest — spin “Maryland” first.

Love Love plans to release an LP this winter. Don’t wait until they’re done recording that album at Q-Division, pick up the EP and come see them on Saturday at the Jamaica Plain Music Festival. - Boston Herald

In the 1990s, JP musician Chris Toppin co-founded the successful indie rock band Fuzzy. After a decade out of the music scene, Toppin is making a comeback with the band LOVE LOVE, which plays next week’s fourth annual Jamaica Plain Music Festival.

“[Music] is different at this age,” said Toppin in a recent Gazette interview. “It’s less self-indulgent, less self-critical. It’s more community-oriented. I really love connecting with people now. When I was younger, I was afraid to connect with people.”

“Now I can be my goofy self and embrace it,” she said.



Toppin has been in an on-again off-again relationship with music for the last 25 years. In the 1980s, she played bass guitar in the Ex-Girlfriends, opening for such global stars as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Ramones.

In the ’90s, she and fellow JPer Hilken Mancini co-founded the indie rock band Fuzzy, who signed with Atlantic Records, released two albums internationally, and toured extensively with the Lemonheads, Belly and Dinosaur Jr.

Then, Toppin disappeared from the music scene until a few years ago: she took over a decade off to raise children.

Last year, though, she took stock of her 13-year run at a desk job at a nonprofit and decided to leap back into music.

“I felt like, ‘What am I doing?’ I want cohesiveness. I want to use my passion for my own,” she said. “I want to combine everything.”

So she quit the desk job and started teaching voice and music. She told the Gazette she only had the courage to make the switch after volunteering with Girls Rock Camp Boston (GRCB), a JP-based music camp for girls that has expanded to include a three-day intensive for adult women.

“Volunteering for them and being part of the three-day weekend—this amazing weekend, this bubble of love and support—that kind of experience, being part of that, gave me the courage to take the risk and leave my 9-to-5 job and start doing music again,” she said. “The past two years, I’ve had a transformation because of them. I owe them a lot.”

Her daughters, ages 9 and 12, “have seen me blossom and seen me become this incredibly happy person” because of it, she added.

Toppin also found a new music partner in fellow singer-songwriter Jefferson Davis Riordan, and formed LOVE LOVE, which has been playing in the Boston area, including Midway Café residencies and First Thursdays in JP.

Toppin and Riordan knew each other from singing back-up vocals and drumming, respectively, for other people, for five years. Toppin discovered that Riordan wrote and sang when he asked her to sing back up on one of his own songs.

Then Toppin “begged” Riordan to collaborate as a duo.

“I was blown away by his beautiful voice and his songwriting,” she said. “He’d been quietly recording by himself.”

LOVE LOVE was born just last November, and has been performing about twice a month since.

“And now, the JP Music Festival,” she said. “It’s such a big deal for us.”

The Jamaica Plain Music Festival, which features more than 20 musicians or bands who either live or work in JP, will take place at Pinebank Field in Jamaica Pond Park at Perkins Street and the Jamaicaway. The free festival runs from noon to 7 p.m. on Sat., Sept. 6.

The lineup includes: Bed of Coals, Bowleg Bradford, Surf’s Up Spicoli, Hands to the Sky, Old Wave, Hope and Husbands, the Ben Schwender Trio, the Taxonomists, the Old Edison, Looker, LOVE LOVE, Rick Berlin with the Nickel and Dime Band, Morris and the East Coast, the Bethel A.M.E. Praise & Worship Team, Cask Mouse, Radio Volta, Tallahassee, Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes & Drums, Blue Gold, Stray Bullets and Streight Agular.

- See more at: http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2014/08/29/at-jp-music-fest-a-rebirth-for-local-musician/#sthash.RzHYa5Xo.dpuf - Jamaica Plain Gazette

Sometimes Chris Toppin starts singing, and I disappear down the rabbit hole with her voice. She can whiskey rasp through an Americana ballad or fly her vocals high and pretty over a big brass section. To my delight, she does both on Love Love’s eponymous debut LP.

“Love Love” marks the return of Toppin after a too-long, post-Fuzzy hiatus. She’s back with that voice and some ace tunes — murder ballad “Murderpedia,” classic country gem “Lost Battle.” But let’s not forget her Love Love partner, singer and crack songwriter Jefferson Davis Riordan. When the pair tag-team a sweet melody (such as “Big Backyard Moon” or “Winter Changes Everything”), the results are astounding.

See Love Love celebrate the release Saturday at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge with Tanya Donelly, The Needy Sons (Bill Janovitz and Mike Gent’s bar band) and Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents.

—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, May 2015 - The Boston Herald

Two alumni of the band Fuzzy deliver up a collection that is not your father’s indie-rock.

Not with an antic horn section punctuating the singalong pop (“I Like You Weird”). Not with an ominous yet strangely cheerful chantey chronicling evil doings (“Murderpedia”). Not with a rootsy, Can’t-Go-Home-Again ballad (“Maryland”). Not with a reverential, country-inflected harmony vocal showcase (“Wide Open Skies”). Not with an off-kilter oddity of a confessional duet (“Sunday Morning”). Not with a halting folk-rock barn-raiser (“Hey Fella”).

This release is truly sui generis (unique). Highly recommended. (Hint: It’s available for free online.)

—Francis DiMenno, The Noise, February 2015 - The Noise

Love Love’s new EP makes a bold statement with folksy rock melodies, husky vocals and intricate storytelling. With lyrics ranging from topics such as love and loss to the dark eccentricities of murder, the mini-album delivers six strong tracks that have something for any listener.

The standout, “Murderpedia,” is an ambling story of murder and betrayal. The track combines singer/songwriter Chris Toppin’s smokey vocals with classic Americana inspirations that would rival any country hit on the charts today. On the other end of the spectrum is “Maryland,” which features sultry guitars and layered vocals that can be listened to endlessly.

Love Love’s greatest strength lies in their songwriting. They’re able to effortlessly transition from a love song to an offbeat track such as “I Like You Weird.”

—Kate Dennis-Skillings, Performer Magazine, performermag.com, March 2015 - Performer Magazine

Fresh from Jamaica Plain, Love Love are gearing up for a show with Somerville’s own Mount Peru taking place this Saturday at Toad in Cambridge on a potentially blizzard like Valentine’s Day.

Love Love are performing under the strength of their brand new self-titled EP, and are gearing up to release their debut album this spring. Their brand new song “Leave Myself” is a mellow, straightforward indie rocker that expresses the band’s strengths to a prospective listening audience who may not be too familiar with the group’s sound. I was largely unfamiliar with these guys as well, but I was intensely curious on listening to the band’s sound intently and finding things to marvel over that will hopefully lead to a lasting impression of the group.

—Peter Amara, Music Box Pete, musicboxpete.com, February 2015 - Music Box Pete

Chris Toppin of the beloved Boston outfit Fuzzy has a rootsy new project, and it’s crisp and catchy. Her duets with co-leader Jefferson Davis Riordan stick in the sweet spot where twangy heartache and intelligent pop co-mingle.

—Noah Schaffer, The Arts Fuse, artsfuse.org, May 2014 - The Arts Fuse

Love Love is the latest project from Boston based singer-songwriters Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan. After her time in Fuzzy ended, Toppin took 10 years off to raise her kids. After the two met, they began working on music together, and Love Love was born.

With two gifted songwriters, Love Love’s songs are tight, poppy showcases of Americana. Their latest video, “I Like You Weird” from their EP released back in September, features Riordan on vocals with Toppin singing back up. It starts off simply enough with a basic guitar/bass/drums mix, and then slowly becomes more lush as extra instruments get added. It’s an ideal blend of the mid 90s Boston scene and the contemporary country/folk revival.

—If It’s Too Loud, ifitstooloud.com, May 2015 - If It's Too Loud...

Who knew murder could be so catchy? While the band called Love Love are relative new-comers on the Boston scene, their roots stretch back quite quite some time. Singer-songwriters Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan have established their credentials in various bands over the years. Perhaps that’s why their debut sounds so potent and fully-formed. Their sound tend towards the indie rock end of the spectrum but the songs have a captivating folk storytelling style. Here’s a stand-out from their debut ep and, hopefully, a harbinger of great songs to come.

—Mayer Danzig, Twangville, twangville.com, April 2015 - Twangville

On the last Saturday in May the one and only Lizard Lounge threw a ginormous record release party to celebrate Love Love’s eponymous debut album and pretty much all of Boston’s best musicians showed up to support the well loved-loved duo. If you are from these parts, and have a musical pulse, you know just how exciting it is to see all of your favorites in one club, on one stage, playing songs that make your head and heart soar. All the bands are friends, and all that friendship poured out into the audience in waves of hometown rock n’ roll goodness.

Kicking off the local music festival was Massachusetts muse Tanya Donelly. When you think of the bands that put New England on the indie-rock map she was in three of the most beloved, and to be able to see her play in such an intimate venue is one of the best things about living in this city. It was pretty clear that everyone else in the crowd felt the same way the moment Donelly and her band (which includes husband Dean Fisher of The Juliana Hatfield Three) took the stage. Playing songs that spanned her illustrious career, including “Slow Dog” from Belly’s Star album and “Mass Ave” from her recent EP Swan Song Series (Vol. 1), the set electrified the space.

Next up on the Boston band bill was Bill Janovitz’s latest project The Needy Sons, a band consisting of the Buffalo Tom vocalist and guitar player, Mike Gent (vocalist/guitarist of Figgs, The Gentlemen), Ed Valauskas (bass player of The Gravel Pit, Jenny Dee and The Deelinquents), and Eric Anderson (drummer for Jenny Dee and The Deelinquents). Playing an eight song set of new material and covers, which included a track titled “The Swimmer” that may be released on a new Buffalo Tom album, Janovitz and crew rocked out like a band that has been together forever. They were joined by Tanya towards the end of the set for a cover of Carley Simon’s “Your So Vain,” a song which pretty much begs for a sing-a-long, and the audience obliged.

The evening’s guests of honor, Chris Toppin and Jefferson Davis Riordan, took the stage to rousing applause as the band squeezed in to fill up the floor. A three-piece horn section joined the duo, along with bass, drums, and slide guitar, to bring the songs on the debut album to life. Toppin is well known for her time with 90’s dreamy alt-band Fuzzy and her indie-rock sensibility is stronger than ever with her newest project. Formed in 2013, Love Love is the sound of two extremely talented singer-songwriters, joining together in life and music, to create songs that bring out the best in both artists. The set focused largely on the new release and the chemistry between bandmates was evident right from the start. They are currently working on a national release, so until you can buy the album you can listen here.

Closing out the night was hometown favorite Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents, yet another band consisting of members who have made names for themselves in other well-known bands such as Papas Fritas, The Gentlemen, The Rudds, and The Gravel Pit. In fact, Ed Valauskas has played a part (either performing or producing) with almost every band/musician on stage for the show. Jenny and the crew were in fine, 60’s pop, form on every number and everyone in the venue was clapping and dancing along. The Deelinquents have honed their live show so perfectly the 8-piece band could perform in a closet and still be perfectly choreographed.

I feel bad for those that missed out on this party. All of these great local musicians in one place, switching back and forth between bands as effortlessly as good friends do, and rocking the night away. It was a helluva time!

—Ryan Doyon, MusicSavage.com, June 2015 - Music Savage