“It's pretty hard to find folk that is as spellbinding as it is humorous, but Charming Disaster executes such a feat while barely breaking as much as a cold sweat...It's kind of like Coven meets the Carpenters, or Captain & Tennille if they had barely escaped the collapse of the Process Church with their lives and immortal souls intact.” –I Thought I Heard a Sound
“The song…builds and builds with the most delightful sense of dread imaginable. If you're the type of person that finds the macabre fun and intriguing, you're going to adore "Cherry Red." –If It’s Too Loud
“There is just no bad spot to start with in Charming Disaster’s catalog…the natural world and metaphysical realm are explored with a murder ballad, folk noir and tense cabaret hybrid that no one else could replicate.”
–Tom Haugen, Take Effect Reviews
“Glorious…the kind of soundtrack you’d expect to find on a 1930s cartoon about a Prohibition-era Voodoo funeral…just be careful if they offer you a drink.” –Goldmine Magazine
“Goth-skewered pop…this is kind of Charming Disaster’s thing, luring you in with an effortless sway while lyrics that have you going ‘Wait. What?’ cause a quick double-take...you just can’t turn away.” –Stereo Embers
“Charming Disaster are unusual, spooky, wickedly talented, and completely unafraid to delve deep into the underworld in exploration of all things lurking in the dark...they have a knack for making the macabre fun.” –Mixed Alternative
“Think Madame Blavatsky meets Edward Gorey meets Aesop meets John Bartram meets Nick Cave, and you’re partway to understanding Charming Disaster’s caustically funny and certainly darkly humorous brand of folksy folklore—the intersection of death and daring, mayhem and mirth, chimes and crimes and magic realism. Add in deep, Kohl-lined beauty and a carny’s wardrobe, and the picture of Charming Disaster is complete.” –ICON
“Dipping into the delightfully darker realms…songs that combine the natural and supernatural worlds in a way that makes the strange seem natural, perhaps even inevitable.” –Michael Doherty’s Music Log
“An exploration of wonder...at the intersection of the occult, the folkloric, and the love of amateur science...brings a magical feeling to following our human curiosity.” –Glide Magazine
“They are a band that I’d be comfortable taking Wednesday Addams to see. That is high praise indeed.” –Wise Madness
“The music ranges from delicate folk to solid pop to show-tune-like...songs like ‘Bat Song,’ with quiet delicate acoustic strings, the distant trumpet, and tight vocal harmonies, are just gorgeous. This record is certainly charming. A disaster? Not at all.” –Jersey Beat
“A goth-cabaret folk vaudeville duo from Brooklyn in the dark cabaret mould of Tiger Lillies and Dresden Dolls.” –Outside Left
“Charming Disaster are the kind of band that takes pure delight in the dark and mysterious, and their audience is drawn by that. If you like songs about a couple's relationship after one tragically dies, an ogress that cooks and eats children, and Marie Curie, chances are you already love Charming Disaster.” –If It’s Too Loud
On OUR LADY OF RADIUM
“Our Lady of Radium…shimmers with horror…an engaging and fiercely original album…such evocative songs make great theater.” –Stereophile
“Their harmonies fit hand-in-glove, and their songs as as much cabaret/art rock as they are folk. There is plenty of wry humor afoot as well…The title track…achieves perfection in its simplicity.” –Chain D.L.K.
“Folk with wicked, lyrical noir edge...you don't get such intellectual discovery—and superb music, too!—from such wonderful, spirited folk-pop every day!” –Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
”Haunting harmonies…with a distinctive style of gothic Americana that brings to mind the Handsome Family, Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris take us on a journey back in time to an eerie moment in history. There is a sweeping poignancy to the way they sing this lyrical tale.” –Glide
“Winning, twinning harmonies, and sharp and timely lyrics…bring the past to life—and entwine it with the present day.” –The Big Takeover
“The second best song about Madame Curie ever written.” –Sound Opinions
“What do you get when you combine everything cryptic, horror, weird, macabre, showmanship, and pure dedication? You get the duo Charming Disaster.” –VWMusic
“‘Our Lady of Radium' is a cabaret style folk song with plenty of the spooky vibes we've all come to love from them. It's a very quiet song dripping with intensity.” –If It’s Too Loud
”Our Lady of Radium radiates magic and mystery.” –Brooklyn Roads
OTHER REVIEWS
“With its sweet harmonies, Charming Disaster is the dichotomy of light and dark…each song was like drifting through a dream.”
–Rochester City Newspaper
"‘Spooky Action’" is a beautiful, sad ballad about loneliness and reuniting. Since it is still a Charming Disaster song, it does have more flair than other quarantine inspired songs.” –If It’s Too Loud
“Charming Disaster…I wish we could clone them many times to fill every stadium and cemetery because their music soothes the souls of the living and the dead.” – MELTED Podcast
"Brooklyn’s Charming Disaster takes goth-folk to dark depths of brilliance...Striking instrumentation evokes an otherworldly space, much like that created for the band’s weekly livestream danse macabre, transforming the global fanbase into a true community." –Independent Clauses
“Charming Disaster has composed another masterful work…’Ouroboros,’ a haunting song that takes its namesake from a mythical snake forever swallowing its own tail. With lyricism as beautiful as ever, this song is a solid addition to the duo’s ever-growing discography.” –Misfit Mementos
"We've been loving everything Charming Disaster have been doing. Their gothic Americana cabaret sound is pretty much perfect around these parts. On their latest single, "Ouroboros," they stick with what works, but change it up just enough to surprise us..it's dark and moody...but, in a surprise twist, this new song rocks." –If It’s Too Loud
"I love it when great band names align with equally fantastic music. In this case, we're talking about the Brooklynites Charming Disaster, who have one foot firmly planted in charming gothic-folk imagery and the other traversing all sorts of other sounds that are never predictable and always creative…collectively, their dark storytelling and vaudeville-esque approach could certainly soundtrack your next Ouija Board session or séance expereience, and easily makes Spells + Rituals one of the most unique and inviting listens of 2019." - Tom Haugen, The Daily Vault
"Shrouded in eye shadow and gothic costumes, Charming Disaster’s Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris convey a haunted vaudeville aesthetic with comedic and playfully dark lyrics.” - Splice Magazine
“Charming Disaster have a penchant for dramatic eyeliner and fashion forward outfits, both nice visual representations of their creative work. The ensemble’s woozy folk-pop plays around the edges of the Gothic and, yes, the ritualistic...songs that are dark in subject matter but performed with a stomping liveliness...They clearly have a sharply-attuned sense of humor to go along with their occasional tarot readings and occult interests. The two sides of their personalities have melded perfectly on their latest album.”
- Paste Magazine
“Enchanting and disturbing…Spells + Rituals blends very thoughtful and funny American Gothic imagery with myth-based musical alchemy…there is a great acoustic punk drive to the whole record which matches the potency of the macabre humor. Without the grinning skull inside the loveliness of the tunes, or the dark campy heart inside the weird tales and odes to misery, it wouldn’t all seem so magically in balance and so engaging.”
- The Big Takeover
"Charming Disaster has an affinity for monsters, mortality, paranormal activity and unearthly shenanigans…The songs on Spells + Rituals create a dark, compelling mood, sparked by flashes of wry humor."
- Rock & Roll Globe
“Charming Disaster dances quietly through the dark side of life, investigating themes of murder, mortality, paranormal activity, and looming apocalypse…the arrangements are musically expansive, combining the sounds of dissonant Eastern European folk melodies, surf music, rock, blues and the duo’s own skewed brand of gospel.” - East Bay Express
“Humor, darkness, literary sensibilities, and playfulness mark [this] macabre duo.” - Willamette Week
“Dark, witty and cerebral goth-folk.” - Portland Radio Project
“Devilish and divine.” - Popular Pittsburgh
"The constantly shapeshifting murder ballad and dark rock superduo dive further into latin noir, 60s Britrock and even garagey psychedelic sounds, all with their colorfully dark lyricism." - New York Music Daily
“Charming as hell...the band put out a dark set of sense, of sensuality, and of grace…like a life size music box.” - Frank De Blase, CITY Newspaper
“One of the year’s most creative pairings...cheeky duets about love, death, crime, mythology and the supernatural.” - Mountain Xpress
“Truly madly creepy: Charming Disaster’s storytelling songs have been described as macabre folk, but there’s light in the darkness…racing through themes of love, death, crime, mythology, and the occult, Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris enchant listeners with a combination of folk harmonies, smart lyrics, ukulele, guitar, and a sly sense of humor.” - C-Ville Weekly (Arts Pick)
“Each song is like a spell or ritual…with a little of the deadpan acoustic punk of Jonathan Richman, as well as the arch theatricality of Amanda Palmer.”
- Eugene Weekly
"Their clever lyrics and vocal inflections...inject just the right amount of levity to offset any sense of gloom." - Allegheny Mountain Radio
“Charming Disaster sound like the music that Pugsley and Wednesday Addams might have made after listening to the Decemberists, Squeeze and some Chopin.” - Yes! Weekly
"Mystery infused pop duo Charming Disaster follow in the tradition of goth-rockers like the Cramps, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie & the Banshees." - Spacelab
"Charming Disaster is a bit unusual. Ok, perhaps ‘unusual’ is putting it lightly. Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris, the duo behind the music, revel in the offbeat and uncanny. Since 2012, they have made a name for themselves with literature-inspired songs that meld folklore and mythology with croon-worthy melodies." - Hudson Valley Magazine
“Gothic folk murder balladry, not unlike PJ Harvey at her most ornate. But there’s an accessibility and pop sensibility that also nods to the likes of Andrew Bird or Regina Spektor. It’s darkness cut with a melodic immediacy, and it’s a thing of fanciful beauty.” - Treble
“Heavily melodic folk music that is goth as hell.“ - Impose
“On Cautionary Tales, Charming Disaster writes fables for the deconstruction…onstage, the duo has the same understated presence that makes its albums so compelling.” - MAGNET
“Charming Disaster will haunt your heart.” - HashtagWV
“Vertiginous and quirky Gothic Americana…who could soundtrack any gifted odd-child-out’s imagination.” - Kingston Times
"Gothic tongue and cheek narratives...comparable to something Tim Burton and Danny Elfman would have dreamed up." - CITY Newspaper
"Marvelously charming folk-noir...with a flair for lyrical storytelling."
- Popular Pittsburgh
“Charming Disaster capture Victorian gothic creepiness…there’s a bit of Tim Burton gothic whimsy about the video, which finds the duo riding a ferris wheel in their finest goth garb, sticking pins into some bleeding voodoo dolls, and in the most climactic scenes, conjuring the spirits from beyond in a pretty spectacular seance.” - Treble
"A Brooklyn duo known for Gothic songs of murder and mayhem."
- Brooklyn Paper
“Richly detailed, creepy art-rock.” - New York Music Daily
“Quirky and fun but with gothic bite.” - Hudson Valley One
“Folk-noir tunes with a cabaret twist.” - C-Ville Weekly
“Darkly comic.” - The Herald Sun
“Absolutely haunting…evokes the feelings of not just a song but an old fashioned radio play.” - If It’s Too Loud
“A truly excellent story of a song.” - The Mary Sue
“Charming Disaster’s impressive 2017 full-length Cautionary Tales plays like Third Wave stylized macabre folk in the same tradition that spawned Joanna Newsom and Andrew Bird a generation before. It moves from cutesy Kurt Weill-inspired dark cabaret to some trashy standard-issue indie guitar-rock, with a great number of chamber-folk settings in between. They do it with a big cabaret wink and a good amount of musical substance. As one would expect, their live shows bring the theater.” - Almanac Weekly
"This Brooklyn-based duo make the sinister sound so sweet, and bring a signature kind of glamour to a cool kind of gloom-pop...they cast a spell akin to the quirky macabre motifs of Edward Gorey or Tim Burton." - Deep Cutz
“Macabre, folk-noir duo Charming Disaster have an appetite for all things grisly and ghoulish…with a whimsical, lighthearted attitude…their performances are known for theatrical panache.” - Seven Days
"A lyrically and historically rich mix of murder ballads and tales of relationships gone spectacularly wrong." - New York Music Daily (“50 Best Albums of 2015”)
“Playfully macabre." - Cleveland Scene
“Music to die for…these musicians are killing it.” - The Brooklyn Paper
“Haunting melodies and compelling tales of ghosts, killers and con artists.”
- MountainX
"Goth-style folk cabaret act Charming Disaster...draws on dark-hued sources to inform their musical narratives." - Cool Cleveland
“In their murder ballads, they’ve created the perfect balance of fun and frightening storytelling.” - The Ruckus
“Haunting elegance and a vaudevillean sense of humor…sprinkling in an irresistible dash of darkness.” - Southern Gothic Magazine
“It’s almost musical theater!” - Couch by Couchwest Festival
“You know they know spooky.” - Brokelyn
“Their songs are catchy and clever, and each feels like its own tightly-crafted short story stuffed to the gills with sonic seances, tragicomic circus acts, nocturnal murders, and fractured folklore…if you’re like me and you like your love letters burnt at the edges, your tarot twisted, and your horror stories Gorey, then you will love Charming Disaster’s Cautionary Tales.” - Phantasmaphile
“Their dark humor has been compared to that of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. They’ve been called macabre, ‘folk noir’ with a curiously unthreatening lilt. How do their lyrics inform those of us blithely living in what may well be the beginning of societal deconstruction, the aftermath of all we hold near and dear? And how do their outfits – all those feathers and contrasts in black, white and the occasional yellow or purple – uplift us from our plight?” - Kingston Times
“If you aren’t hooked on this by now, there’s no hope for you.” - New York Music Daily
“Charming Disaster aren’t just the creepiest guy/girl harmony duo in folk noir. They’re also a songwriting superduo…Dark music has seldom been this much fun – and these two put on a hell of a show.”
- New York Music Daily
“The album shines as a masterclass of musicality. Each note fully breathes in its absinthe, intoxicating the listener. Charming Disaster has crafted a gothic folk opera that is definitely going to find its audience in Spells + Rituals.”
- Independent Clauses
“They don’t just sing foreboding ballads, they’re like Macbeth’s witches’ premonitions.” - Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
"Charming Disaster balances smart pop songs against a confident stage presence, sort of a swagger, that suggest the two people out front are destined for great things...these people are overflowing with musical ideas that simply defy categorization." - The Vinyl Anachronist
"If there’s one musical act that seems tailor-made for a Fringe Festival, it’s the Brooklyn-based duo Charming Disaster...there’s also a wry, sometimes dark, humor to their songs — after all, Edward Gorey and Tim Burton are among their list of literary, aesthetic and musical influences, which range from Led Zeppelin to Dresden Dolls to genre literature (noir, fantasy and more) to fairy tales to French New Wave cinema to mythology from assorted cultures." - Daily Messenger
