The Davenports are an indie pop-rock band from Brooklyn, helmed by Scott Klass and featuring Tommy Borscheid, Angela Webster and Karyn LeSuer. Building on the pop craft of their two previous critically acclaimed records—Speaking of The Davenports and Hi-tech Lowlife—The Davenports’ new record, Why the Great Gallop, sets tales of love, lust, mean, money-dangling mothers, superstitious panic attacks and the like to a torrent of guitar-driven, melodic rock.

After a string of pop projects, including playing alongside Chris Collingwood in the Fountains of Wayne frontman’s previous band, songwriter Scott Klass conceived of The Davenports in 2000 as an excuse to write a disturbing band biography, chock full of details about musicians growing up on Funyuns out of the backs of their Pacers. Being that he neither had a band, nor knew anyone like that, Klass decided to make The Davenports a vehicle for melodic, quirky pop music instead.

In addition to gathering a core set of players with distinguished pedigrees—Tommy Borscheid (Rhett Miller, The Honeydogs), Angela Webster (Rhett Miller), and Thomas Ward—Klass brought friends into The Davenports to create what amounted to a revolving lineup of downtown NYC luminaries, including, among others: Danny Weinkauf and Dan Miller (They Might Be Giants), Todd Foulsham (Candy Butchers), Sam McIlvain (Madeleine Peyroux), Claudia Chopek (Springsteen, Moby), Garo Yellin (The Ordinaires, Pere Ubu), Eleanor Norton (Shakira, Beyonce), Rob Draghi (Dorie Colangelo) and Cheri Leone (Trouble Dolls).

Well-known for "Five Steps," the theme song to A&E's Emmy-nominated Intervention, The Davenports have licensed numerous songs to MTV, Comedy Central, and the Starz network. “Five Steps” was also featured on a recent episode of South Park, “Crippled Summer.”

Why the Great Gallop was co-produced by Klass and Charles Newman (Magnetic Fields, AM, Gospel Music, Soko). The record was recorded at One East Studios and Mother West Studio in NYC.

The Davenports’ pop is a tight weave of novel, wistful melody and vivid, sometimes skewed storytelling. As stated by Kevin Matthews on MTV Asia, "Klass is able to touch hearts and nerves by marrying words and music in a seamless construct."

Date	Venue	City & State
* New dates are shown in RED

Blurt Online June 2011 (link)

Big Takeover May 2011 (PDF)

Bill's Music Forum April 2011 (link)

Powerpopaholic.com January 2011 (link)

Beacon Pass January 2011 (link)

Slant Magazine January 2011 (link)

Power of Pop January 2011 (link)

Baby Sue January 2011 (link)

Pop Matters October 2010 (link)

All Music October 2010 (link)

The Deli Magazine October 2010 (link)

MTV Asia October 2010 (link)

Indieville October 2010 (link)

All Music October 2010 (link)

Ink19 October 2010 (link)

“Albums this pleasing can cause quite a rush.”
- Blurt

"It’s a sweet, catchy, yet substantial album of modern indie pop that encourages you to do what few other artist’s work of its ilk encourage you to do – listen again and discover what you missed the first time…Even the most cynical of listeners will find it difficult not to have a melodic brain freeze…"
- Innocent Words

"On the band’s third album, Why the Great Gallop?, frontman and principal songwriter Scott Klass once again proves himself capable of taking seemingly trivial concerns and spinning them into quirky, cockeyed narratives"
- Slant

"The songs feature soaring melodies and exceptional vocals. But the songs themselves are the real draw here, as they have that strange inviting quality that makes them stick in your head like super glue. TOP PICK."
- Baby Sue

"Longtime stalwarts of the New York power pop scene, The Davenports don’t release records that often, but when they do, they’re usually worth tracking down. “Why The Great Gallop?” doesn’t buck the trend."
- Leicester Bangs

"It's not too early to add this to my "best of 2011" list."
- Aaron Kupferberg, Powerpopahlic.com

“If you are sick and tired of the pre-fabricated soul-less crap that passes for pop music nowadays, then let The Davenports remind you what brilliantly conceived and executed pop music is all about. Highly recommended!”
- Kevin Matthews, Power of Pop

"...some of the most lyrically and musically rich modern guitar-pop written by and for people who appreciate such cutting, take-no-prisoners observations that simultaneously celebrate and poke fun at their own worlds."
- Jason Damas, AMG

"Klass writes melodic confections that seep into your psyche and stay awhile, and does so with wit and intelligence."
- Gary Glauber, PopMatters

"...steeped in pop/rock--Weezer meets Ben Folds meets The Hold Steady--leading you to sing along to songs that you’re hearing for the first time while stories unfold of relationships gone awry..."
- Chuck Plummer, The Deli

"Klass’ lyrics are rich in colorful imagery and witty turns of phrase, and his melodies, harmonies and instrumentation are nothing short of charming."
- J.J. Benson, Pop Culture Press

"The Davenports cram their songs full with irresistible hooks and never let up."
- Matt Shimmer, Indieville

"Klass is able to touch hearts and nerves by marrying words and music in a seamless construct."
- MTV Asia