Fronted by femme fatale vocalist Meredith DiMenna, Saint Bernadette offers a boozy, erotically charged psychedelic-meets-arena rock with a peppering of jazz, all candy-coated with sing-along choruses.
With a broad palette and colorful appetite for absolutely every form of music and vocal performance, Meredith DiMenna has been compared to an impossibly diverse list of power females like Shirley Bassey, Peggy Lee , Johnette Napolitano, Joni Mitchell, Joan Jett, Beth Gibbons, Grace Slick, Edie Brickell, Velma Kelly, PJ Harvey, and Billie Holiday, as well as the occasional man, like Robert Plant, Greg Dulli, Jim Morrison, and “that guy from the Scissor Sisters”.
Since the release of their debut album 'In the Ballroom', Saint Bernadette has stayed true to the crazy and/or inspired voices in their head and their beloved hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Just as the real Saint Bernadette changed the future of her hometown of Lourdes forever with her unexplained visions, Saint Bernadette, the rock band, is poised to put their hometown, in the ill-considered state of Connecticut, on the indie music map.
Where “In the Ballroom”, recorded in three days in Bridgeport’s abandoned Bijou Ballroom, featured anthems for ethical sluts, Daddy's girls, and hookers with hearts of gold, their sophomore EP “I Wanna Tell You Something” featured big hooks and twisted circus melodies, detailing a journey of longing through temptation, despair, whimsy, audacity, and vulnerability.
Their immediate follow-up EP “Word to the Lourdes” was an assault of rock-pop gems drawing comparisons to none other than AC/DC.
In early 2010 they released their most ambitious album to date: “Cover Thy Neighbor” which features cover versions of songs written by other local artists and personal friends of the band as well as a re-imagining of the 10 Commandments. It also features an all-star line-up of guest appearances including Fuzz (Caravan of Thieves, Deep Banana Blackout), Carrie, Ben and Brian from Caravan of Thieves, Jesse of These United States, Jar-e, Joe Roberto (Poverty Hash, Gnu Fuz), and Tim Walsh of The Stepkids.
Reigning supreme among the Bridgeport rock scene, the band has earned a laundry list of dubious titles including “Best Indie Band” as voted by the readers of the Fairfield Weekly and top honors in the “Battle of the Bands” at Hamden’s The Space.
In February 2011, they will release their fifth album, as yet untitled, produced by Danny Kadar (My Morning Jacket, Avett Brothers).
