Biography

Featuring members of Lush, Elastica, Moose, and Modern English, Piroshka builds on the Brit-pop, shoegaze, and post-punk legacies of its lineup with fresh sounds and viewpoints. These veteran artists kicked off a new chapter with 2019's spiky, politically minded debut Brickbat, then reflected on family, love, and loss with the moody dream pop of 2021's Love Drips and Gathers. Piroshka began in late 2016, when Lush's reunion tour came to a close. Drummer Justin Welch, formerly of Elastica, approached guitarist/vocalist Miki Berenyi about a new music project with her and Modern English bassist Mick Conroy, who had joined the group for the tour's final show in Manchester. However, the band's roots go deeper than that: Welch and Berenyi are longtime friends from their former bands' '90s heydays; Berenyi and Moose vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist KJ McKillop are partners; and Conroy played in a latter-day version of McKillop's band. The chemistry that Welch, Berenyi, and Conroy felt during the rehearsals for the Manchester show convinced them to keep making music, and they began exchanging demos that blended shoegaze, post-punk, and guitar pop in ways that didn't sound exactly like anything they'd done before. With the addition of McKillop's keyboards, guitar, and songwriting, Piroshka's sound and lineup was complete. The band soon signed to former Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde's label Bella Union. Their debut album, Brickbat, which featured string arrangements by Fiona Brice and brass courtesy of Terry Edwards, appeared in February 2019. For Piroshka's next full-length, July 2021's Love Drips and Gathers, McKillop and Conroy took the creative reins on an introspective set of songs about relationships and memories. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi