Guitarist Santo (formerly of Jenifer Convertible), joined in 1997 and the trio adopted The Sharp Things as its name for performances at small clubs on the Lower East Side of New York City.
The Sharp Things steadily added members over the next few years and began to broaden its musical palette with strings, horns, woodwinds, keyboards and other instruments.
The group's first album, Here Comes The Sharp Things (an entirely different set of songs from the similarly entitled demo tape) was released in the United States in 2002 on Dive Records.
Comprising songs recorded by two different ensembles in 2000 and 2001, and largely produced by Serpa and Santo in the former's basement studio in Queens, New York, Here Comes The Sharp Things won critical acclaim for its lush, melancholy blend of British folk revival, classical music, jazz and 1970s radio pop influences.
Other performers include Tony Award-winning actor and musician Michael Cerveris; Franz Nicolay, keyboardist for The Hold Steady; and tenor saxophonist Stuart D. Bogie of Antibalas.
Returning to the homemade approach of Here Comes A Sharp Things, A Moveable Feast was recorded in various kitchens, living rooms and basements around New York City by producer Billy "Prince Polo" Szeflinski.
A free digital single, "It's Alright," originally recorded by Black Sabbath and written and sung by drummer Bill Ward, was released in November 2012 to promote the album series.
On September 26, 2013, The Sharp Things returned to the concert stage for the first time in three years, performing at Galapagos Art Space, located in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.
A single from the album, "Love Me Indigo," received airplay on several Triple A radio stations in the United States, including WTMD, in Towson, Maryland, which hosted a live concert broadcast of The Sharp Things in February 2015.