My Favorite

Retro-futurists My Favorite formed in Long Island, New York, where singer/composer Michael Grace, Jr. first met guitarist Darren Amadio while still in middle school. The duo later formed My Favorite while attending SUNY Stony Brook, adding singer/keyboardist Andrea Vaughn, bassist Gil Abad, and drummer Tod; profoundly inspired by the music of the new wave, the post-punk era, and '80s pop culture in general, the group self-released its first cassette, the limited-edition Brighton Riot, in 1992, followed two years later by the Swingset Records 7" The Last New Wave Record. A 1995 Harriet label single, The Informers and Us, earned My Favorite considerable media acclaim, but despite a handful of single sides and compilation appearances, they kept a relatively low profile in the years to follow, finally issuing their brilliant debut LP, Love at Absolute Zero, on Double Agent in 1999. The next few years saw them recording a string of EPs (2000's Joan of Arc Awaiting Trial, 2001's A Cult of One, and 2002's The Kids Are All Wrong) which were released as limited editions, then gathered together with a fourth EP that was never issued (Famous When Dead) and released as The Happiest Days of Our Lives: The Complete Joan of Arc Tapes in 2003. The disc also came with a bonus CD of remixes by artists like Future Bible Heroes and Flowchart. After releasing one more EP, a 2005 split with Entre Rios, the band themselves split when Vaughn left. The remaining members dusted themselves off and continued as the Secret History, adding new vocalist Lisa Ronson and updating their sound a little. They released an EP and two well-regarded albums before they went on hiatus in 2014 upon Ronson's departure for England. At this point Grace, Jr. revived the My Favorite name and readied a new single, "Second Empire"/"Dance with a Stranger," which was released at the end of the year.