"one-woman New York punk-funk project Cannonball Jane lived up to the hype" New York Magazine
"CJ is the coolest one woman band I've heard in a long time. I love her recordings and can't wait for more!" Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill/Le Tigre
"An elementary school music teacher from Connecticut, Sharon Hagopian busts out the most effortlessly funky indie-rock G-slide not on the Go! Team's new album." Spin
"Frothy, infectious sampledelica...dreamy doo-wop oohs and aahs with old-school breaks and beats...it could all be a musical car crash, but charm and sassy beats win the day. And to complete this mini-masterpiece's feel good credentials: by day Jane is a music teacher, Sharon Hagopian, and she recorded it in her bedroom." The Times (UK)
"It's easy to get hot for elementary schoolteacher Sharon Hagopian, who's changing the face of pop electronica under the moniker Cannonball Jane. Miss Jane is pure fusion (as a teacher she'd probably correct that oxymoron), yet her mix is interesting because it handily blends the rawness of garage rock with the control of both dance beats and synthesizer swirls. On her just-released EP, "Knees Up!," her quirky, sassy vocals lend the music an appealing playfulness - probably the quality that attracted Beastie Boy Ad-Rock to remix her well-titled original, "Take It to the Fantastic." The New York Post
"In a world that's rapidly running out of new musical combinations, I can honestly say I've never heard this one before: early Eighties hip-hop crossed with girl-group pop...her debut is ten tracks of music history fantasy camp. What if The Shangri-Las dated Run-DMC? What if Sarah Records' early Nineties roster became obsessed with the dirty funk of the SP-1200? It takes Cannonball Jane a mere twenty-nine minutes to convince you of how cool that would actually be. Cheap-o beats and Spectorian production flourishes provide the backdrop, but the glue that holds it together is Hagopian's surprisingly lovely voice... Maybe it's time to start believing in genre crossing again." Splendid
"Homemade, hip-hop-influenced indie pop...a very early contender for album of 2006." Tiny Voices
"Utterly original...Jane simply does the unexpected with some electric riffs and sweet harmony" Loud & Quiet
"A lo-fi world of home-recorded sampledelica that falls somewhere between the Beastie Boys and St. Etienne" Uncut
"Retro hip-hop beats, cooed girl vocals and upright and super-tight bass...a pop album that even the most tedious of indie snobs can enjoy without fear of shedding scene points" Drowned in Sound
"A sassy, sweet and sharpwitted affair which ranges wide across music history and brims with her dedication to its polymorphous pleasures" Time Out London
"... an elementary school music teacher from suburban Connecticut who spends her off hours perfecting a perky blend of Beck-style sardonic electro hip-hop and the exuberant sugar rush of classic U.K. indie twee pop acts like Talulah Gosh." All Music Guide
"And should Ms. Hagopian choose to add Knees Up to her class syllabus the kids would get a fine introduction to a world where hip-hop starlight explosions merge with girl group galaxies somewhere deep out on the lounge dance floor nebula." Pop Matters
"No wonder The Go! Team and Le Tigre are fans of this gal." Paste
"It’sequal parts Go! Team, B-52’s, The Chiffons, St. Ettiene and Luscious Jackson injected with some wierd homage to TV soundtracks where the Theme From SWAT meets Sesame Street. Jane’s Knees Up! EP is easily the best record you can play at your next Twister party. And with a remix by the Beastie’s Ad Rock it makes it all the more fonkier. Dig it." Some Velvet Blog
"This homemade slice of diy electro-lo-fi alt.pop is a subtle little beast that reveals more reasons for adoration with each spin...the welcome left hand turns come at you from all 4-multi track directions.. what a joyous happy fun packed half hour this album provides." IReallyLoveMusic
"Sampledelic dance-pop with an open wink to the likes of St. Etienne, The Go! Team, Le Tigre, Northern State, The Chiffons and Luscious Jackson...when it comes to joyous DIY beats, Hagopian could teach her peers a thing or two." The Independent on Sunday (UK)
"Samples, synths, drum-machines, live instrumentation, layers of reverb, and her own sweetly innocent vocals are the ingredients for Cannonball Jane's Electronica and Hip-Hop infused take on the old-school Pop/Soul sound." - okayplayer.com
"From cappuccino quaffing clever-clever indie to shoo-bee-doo-ing 60s girl pop, three chord electro-punk to scuzzy classical, fuzzy garage pop to sample dripping beat hop...a terrific half hour's worth of catchy riffs and cutey-pie tunes." SoundsXP
"A bright pink bundle of New York flavoured lo-fi pop that rocks, bubbles and shimmers in all the right places...adventurous, exhilarating and above all really good fun." Diskant
"Hagopian has created a wonderful and strange mix of early 80s hip hop and 1960s girl group... This is simply great fun to listen to..." Americana-UK
"Cannonball Jane is where indie pop meets hip hop, and I bloody love it. ‘Street Vernacular’ reminds me of the coolest J-Pop, but with a typically New York attitude." Tasty
"Cannonball Jane, aka Sharon Hagopian, is an elementary school music teacher by day, an electro-punk-pop darling by evening. With Street Vernacular, her 2003 self-produced debut, Hagopian expertly mixes beats, keys and chords with her crisp and husky vocals, delivering divine lo-fi dance revolution with tracks like “Hey! Hey! Alright!” and “Slumber Party.” Xtra
"Opening acts Cannonball Jane and Gravy Train also showed their appreciation for Le Tigre's kid rock. Accompanied by only a guitarist, Cannonball's Sharon Hagopian — who is, fittingly, an elementary school teacher by day — got the then half-packed crowd bopping their heads to her palette of jungle and hip-hop beats, juxtaposed with her surprisingly smooth, '70s singer-songwriter delivery." Chartattack
"...Cannonball Jane has produced, written and recorded entirely at home Street Vernacular is a plethora of beats, booms, samples and sweeps, it’s an indie kid's dream, the intelligent, meaningful lyrics set against the cool exuding soundtrack so well illustrated by the likes of St. Etienne, De La Soul and more recently and pertinently, The Go! Team. At last, the kids sigh, someone cool that you can dance to. " Friends of the Heroes
Your typical elementary school music teacher isn’t on
the cutting edge - she’s barely cognizant, really, going from day to day
teaching pudgy 4th-graders how to play the recorder. It’s a fair guess that your
average music teacher isn’t a quirky, adorable, even (dare we say it?) hot indie
musician slowly taking over the world one beatbox at a time. Then again, your
average music teacher isn’t Sharon Hagopian, aka Cannonball Jane.
Those hip enough to have heard of Jane can’t stop raving, and it’s clear why -
the sheer thrills of this album are intoxicating. Musically it’s all a
ferocious, fiery blur, as the Beastie Boys hook up with the Shangri-Las in the
corner, while the Go! Team spins the make-out music. Cannonball Jane seems as
comfortable doing early doo-wop tunes (“Fine Reminder”) as she does with 40s
jazz (“Add a Wrap”) or 80s hip-hop (“Slumber Party”). For a record, this is
impressive, for a debut this is stunning; these tracks might’ve been produced in
Hagopian’s home studio, but they sound as full as if a team of technicians
working day and night had produced them.
Elsewhere, “The Force of Gravity” has a girl-group coo, while “Let’s Go” is
punk-funk spliced with electroclash. The stellar bassline of “Taxi” gets in your
head and refuses to leave; plus there’s the 70s pop-perfection of “Hey! Hey!
Alright!” Somewhere Theoretical Girl feels decidedly beaten to the point. This
is an all-killer, no filler situation, so put down your dour guy-rock because
Cannonball Jane proves that girls have more fun.
Already the soundtrack to your cool friend’s party, Street Vernacular deserves
to be playing in your ears nonstop. Currently Jane is supporting the Go! Team,
and if there’s any justice, she’ll have as much (or more) success. Music this
ebullient, this full of joy and life, this clever and witty, will always have a
place in both the mainstream and the indie world. She could teach us the scales
any day. - God is in the TV Zine
Mojo - November 2004
"There's an extent to which this is going to be at least as much a declaration of love as a review, because there are a couple of things about Cannonball Jane that really turn me on..." Ink 19
"Wow Wow WOW!
I have to say, this is one of my favorite CDs right now. It's just utterly
amazing. So, so good!
... So diverse and fun!... The production sounds so, so
sophisticated!...Can you guys tell how impressed I am with Cannonball Jane?! Seriously, go go go
and buy this CD from her now!"
Copacetic
Zine
"When she is not working at her day job as an elementary school music teacher, Sharon Hagopian records pop symphonies under the name Cannonball Jane at home. "Slumber Party" opens her debut album "Street Vernacular" with a concise summary of her aesthetic: cartoonish hip hop breakbeats, elegant piano chords, twinkling chimes, girl group melodies and a swirl of miscellaneous musical elements that fill out every available space in her songs without weighing down their buoyant grooves. Hagopian comes across as the world's most ideal music educator -- someone endlessly enthusiastic about a wide range of music who's open both to old fashioned instruments and cut-and-paste sample-based compositions." - AP NEWS
"‘Street Vernacular’ is a frantic free-for-all at the sweetie stall, riding the sugar high across eleven tracks of delicious pick ‘n’ mix pop. Cannonball Jane has grabbed greedy fistfuls of pop history; girl group pop, buzzing garage, Motown, doo-wop, freak-beat, hip-hop, drum and bass and smooshed them together with generous helpings of wit and charm...every one’s a winner, each song is a favourite when it’s playing." Kittenpainting
"She has created an album of upbeat, danceable electro-pop. And she's performed every instrument on it herself, composing all the beats, samples, and synths, adding her voice overtop to finish it off...What may be missed on this album is the production values. It says a lot that Hagopian was able to combine these sounds so effortlessly and mix her vocals perfectly. It definitely sounds like a band, not a single musician, and in that the production values - while suitably lo-fi in parts - shine. And Hagopian's voice is perfect, sweet at times, edgy at others, and always supporting these short but catchy songs." Delusions of Adequecy
"See, that's the magic of Cannonball Jane's debut. You can listen to it, and you'll find something new each time, and you'll love it even more. I've listened to Street Vernacular almost every day for the past month. It's that wonderful; it's totally fun, and it's quite smart, too." Mundane Sounds
...article from the New Haven Advocate (April 7, 2004)
here
Interview in Copacetic Zine.
More reviews...
TAKE IT TO FANTASTIC/SLUMBER PARTY REVIEWS:
This is fun and retro cool, calling on sounds that you’re familiar with, meaning it’s already inserted on your consciousness before you’ve even heard the track!...This Brooklyn based elementary school teacher (shake off any thoughts of ‘Sting’ too!) offers up sassy music, that fans of ‘St Etienne’ and ‘The Go! Team’ should snap up without thinking. * * * * - Rock-City
It starts with a fuzzy, MBV-styled surge, then swings into an oingo-boingo, ’60s-pop freakout, all parping Casio and casual yeah-yeah-yeahs, adding a massively distorted drum loop just when you think you’ve got it sussed. It’s equal parts De La Soul and a Latino Doris Day – fantastic indeed. - Time Out London
Ooh this is bleedin’ marvellous. One woman cut’n’paste beat superstar Cannonball Jane ushers in the summershine with this irresistible Latin flavoured pop lolly. - Kittenpainting.co.uk
Invigorating, danceable and busy-sounding, this is music for hyperactive ears and feet. - Soundsxp
Take our advice and buy this single: it’s really an investment in looking smug in about six months’ time when everyone will be going mad about her. - TinyVoices
The Spector-soul of ‘Take It
To Fantastic’ is buzzed around with impish Latino guitar, Cannonball Jane
appearing as the lo-fi, hip-hop Diana Ross. Maybe though she’s more a Missy E.
for the pig-tailed and A-line floral dressed. Either way she’s a one-off and, if
this single is anything to go buy, a pretty essential addition to the indie
scene. - Vanity Project
The new star of Fortuna Pop! is Cannonball Jane, and if this doesn’t chart then I want to know why. Insanely catchy, ‘Take it to Fantastic’ sounds like the theme tune to the best Bond movie never made, and is backed by the sugar sweet sample-pop of ‘Slumber Party’ from the recent album ‘Street Vernacular’. - Tasty