It Was Romance is a Brooklyn-based band who BUST Magazine called the The Best Band of the year. Pitchfork named the self-titled album one of the records to watch. Village Voice premiered the first single, “Philadelphia,” calling the song “mysterious but undeniably attractive. It evokes feelings of loneliness with a danceable beat, not unlike a somber nighttime walk home on wet roads, with colorful, joyous city lights reflecting like a black mirror” and praising the album for its “glittering instrumental aspect and Moore’s velvety vocal delivery make the rest of “It Was Romance” saunter around like the life of the party, occasionally winking just to make sure you’re hooked.” Paste Magazine described the band as “Hearkening back to a Dig Me Out era Sleater Kinney, Moore’s expansive sound covers love and all its mishaps with a catchy, blast loud and sing proud thoughtfulness. Blending garage rock with soul and experimental undertones, It Was Romance, walks multiple genres with a deft grace to mirror Moore’s bubbly wit and eye-catching presence.” The Advocate called the band “one to watch,” calling their first music video for “Philadelphia” “awesomely creative.” BuzzFeed named their first single Philadelphia on their “Songs You Need In Your Life This Month” list. Their sought-after, hook-driven songs have been featured prominently in movies, TV shows, and video games.
The music video for “Hooking Up With Girls” was released on the front page of Nylon. The video was quickly picked up by numerous media outlets, including Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, Billboard, VICE, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, New York Magazine, VICE, BUST Magazine, Refinery 29, and The Onion‘s AV Club, who said of the video “when [Moore] sings directly to the camera, it seems like an overly intimate confession.” Vogue Magazine called Moore a “jack of all trades,” adding that her music videos, “give me life.”
Billboard named It Was Romance one of 16 Female-Fronted Bands You Should Know.