Frankie Cosmos

Greta Kline's band, grown from a long run of self-released Bandcamp home recordings into a New York indie pop group on Sub Pop.

Origin
New York City, New York, United States
Years active
2011-present
Genres
indie pop, indie rock, indie folk, lo-fi, bedroom pop
Labels
Double Double Whammy, Bayonet, Sub Pop

Greta Kline

Greta Simone Kline was born in New York City on 21 March 1994, the daughter of the actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates; her brother is the filmmaker Owen Kline. As a child she had small parts in The Anniversary Party and The Squid and the Whale. She tried piano and drums before settling on guitar in seventh grade, and was homeschooled for most of high school.

From 2009 she recorded songs at home under a string of aliases, among them Ingrid Superstar, Zebu Fur and Franz Charcoal. The name Frankie Cosmos came from her boyfriend of the time, Aaron Maine of Porches, as a nod to Frank O'Hara, whose poetry inspired her. She first played shows under it in late 2011, and for a while also played bass in Porches. Between 2012 and 2014 she put out a long run of albums and EPs on Bandcamp, and MusicBrainz now counts 43 release groups in her name.

Zentropy and Next Thing

The debut studio album, Zentropy, came out on Double Double Whammy on 4 March 2014. Hunter Davidsohn produced it in Johnson City, New York, with Aaron Maine on bass, drums and keys. AllMusic made it an Album Pick, and Pitchfork later placed it at 133 among the albums of the 2010s. Kline spent two years at NYU's Gallatin School and left because it would not fit around touring.

She signed to Bayonet in 2015 and released the Fit Me In EP that November. Next Thing followed on 1 April 2016, again produced by Davidsohn and her first record with a full band: the Maine brothers, Aaron and David, and Gabrielle Smith of Eskimeaux. About half of it rebuilt songs from her Bandcamp years. On the Lips was its fourth single, and Embody names two friends from her New York scene. Two sold-out release shows at Shea Stadium in Brooklyn followed, with Eskimeaux opening, and in November Bayonet issued a limited Covers EP on cassette.

Sub Pop

The band announced its move to Sub Pop in April 2017. After Kline split from Aaron Maine, she formed a side project, Lexie, with Alex Bailey, and Frankie Cosmos returned with a new line-up. Vessel (2018), eighteen songs in 33 minutes, featured David Maine, Lauren Martin and Luke Pyenson, with Bailey, who had joined on bass in 2017, adding guitar. It reached ninth on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Four digital Haunted Items EPs came out in 2019, then Close It Quietly, on which Kevin Kline plays piano and Phoebe Cates sings harmonies on With Great Purpose. Rolling Stone called it a songwriting binge.

In 2020 Kline released Great Scraps, a set of demos, and played weekly Instagram livestreams through the first lockdown. Around January 2021 Fool, from Next Thing, spread on TikTok through fans of the Netflix series Hilda, which used it and The End; Kline also wrote Uncrossed Path for the show's finale. Sappho, also from Next Thing, turned up in Heartstopper. In 2021 she shared a split single, Slide, with Lomelda. Inner World Peace followed in October 2022, co-engineered by Katie Von Schleicher.

Different Talking

Von Schleicher joined the band in 2023, and Hugo Stanley of Palm took over the drums in 2024. That year Kline and Cody Fitzgerald of Stolen Jars also released a single as haha same. The current four-piece made Different Talking (2025) themselves over about six weeks in a house in upstate New York, with no outside producer and the basic tracks cut to reel-to-reel tape. Sub Pop calls Kline the poet laureate of New York City DIY.

Next Thing returned for Record Store Day in April 2026 as a remastered tenth-anniversary LP with three demos added. That year the band toured Japan in February and in September opened for Liz Phair and Sleater-Kinney.

Members

Records

Songs

Porches, Eskimeaux, Florist, Lomelda

Where to go next

Official

  • Official site Tour dates, videos and shop, with links to Bandcamp and socials.
  • Sub Pop The label's page, with the current line-up and the making of Different Talking.
  • Bayonet Records: Next Thing The original label on how Next Thing grew from old home recordings.

Reference

  • Frankie Cosmos Biography, members, singles and TV placements.
  • Next Thing Tracklist, singles, review scores, charts and year-end lists.

Discography and data

  • MusicBrainz All 43 release groups, including every Bandcamp release from 2012 to 2014.
  • Discogs Physical pressings, including the Next Thing LP and the 2026 remaster.

Writing and criticism

Interviews

Live performance archives

Film and video

Sources

  1. Frankie Cosmos, Wikipedia
  2. Next Thing (album), Wikipedia
  3. Frankie Cosmos, Sub Pop
  4. Five questions with Greta Kline, MAGNET (2025-07-10)
  5. Frankie Cosmos biography, Last.fm
  6. Frankie Cosmos, MusicBrainz