Binghamton Underground Music Presents (BUMP) announced on Sunday afternoon that their second show is to be headlined by Frankie Cosmos with Big Thief opening. Frankie Cosmos will be joined by her band and the show will be held on Nov. 11 in the University Union Undergrounds at 8 p.m.
The show was announced the day after the first BUMP show of the year, which took place on Saturday night and featured headliner SPORTS and opening act free cake for every creature.
Max Maurice, the vice president for programming for the Student Association and a senior majoring in electrical engineering, is very excited for this upcoming performance.
“She’s pretty prominent in the alternative world, so this being a free concert is pretty huge,” Maurice said.
Frankie Cosmos, born Greta Kline, is the daughter of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates. She began writing songs as a student at SUNY Purchase and created a laid-back, indie-pop sound. By 2012, she had dropped out of college to focus on music full time. After releasing dozens of self-recorded, homemade songs on the internet, Frankie Cosmos released her first studio album, “Zentropy,” in 2014.
Her second album, entitled “Next Thing,” came out in April of this year.
“Despite being the second BUMP show, she was actually the first act we booked for the year out of pure respect and excitement that she’d be willing to come here,” Maurice said.
Cosmos’ provenance recalls that of Mitski, a New York-based artist, who also attended SUNY Purchase and performed at a BUMP show early in her career in 2014. Since then, she has released another full length album and gone on to great popularity, even selling out shows in Philadelphia and New York City on her upcoming tour.
Big Thief, the opening act, is a Brooklyn-based folk and indie-rock band. The group’s lead singer and guitarist, Adrianne Lenker, also serves as the songwriter. She began releasing solo material in 2006 and later linked up with guitarist Buck Meek. In 2014, the duo released two extended plays together before eventually joining with bass player Max Oleartchik and drummer James Krivchenia to form Big Thief.
The lineup for the show has a vibe that’s very similar to that of past BUMP performers like the band Cymbals Eat Guitars, an indie-rock band from Staten Island who performed on campus in March.
In addition to having a similar sound, Maurice said that Frankie Cosmos “has that stage presence that’s reflective of BUMP’s intimate aesthetic.” The shows hosted by BUMP in the past have been held in rooms in the Union or in the Undergrounds, providing for the opportunity for students to get much closer to the artists than they would at many venues in larger cities.
On the survey for BUMP acts to come, Frankie Cosmos was in a three-way tie with Palehound and Car Seat Headrest, with each garnering 6.9 percent of total votes under the choice of “Dying to see!” Maurice accredited this low percentage due to the fact that most people don’t know who the BUMP choices are, and that the artists are, after all, pointedly selected because they are still considered to be “underground.”
Maurice has high hopes that bringing Frankie Cosmos will have an impact on the relationship between the student body and the Student Association Programming Board (SAPB).
“I’m trying to restore the student body’s faith in SAPB with one committee at a time,” Maurice said. “Bringing her for a free concert was something that was both financially feasible and reflective of our mission to entertain students.”