Track Of The Day: Cherym – ‘Listening To My Head’

Having received acclaim from the likes of NME, John Kennedy at Radio X and Tom Robinson on BBC 6Music, as well as recently landing themselves on Spotify’s The Punk List, Derry trio Cherym have now bounced back into our ears following previous single ‘Kisses On My Cards’ with a brand new offering.

Inspired by the Netflix series Dirty John, ‘Listening To My Head’ is a sunny, jangling slice of punk-pop. Propelled by driving beats and an uplifting, empowering energy, swirling hooks accompany luscious angst-driven honey-sweet vocals. An instantly catchy offering harking back to my favourites of the early Noughties, its vibrant, lilting refrains will stick in your ears on first listen, demanding multiple plays and frenzied dances around the living room. Of the track, the band explain:

“This is a song we wrote after Hannah watched the Netflix series Dirty John. It’s written from the point of view of Betty Broderick, wife of Dan Broderick, a successful business man who used Betty to gain his success, tormented her life, left her penniless in the divorce settlement, took full custody of their children, and abused her throughout their relationship. In the end she ended up killing him…and his lover, but that’s beside the point. This is Betty’s song…”

Oozing a wonderfully fuzzy sense of nostalgia as the tongue-in-cheek wit of the lyrical storytelling and a colourful charismatic musicality flows, ‘Listening To My Head’ is guaranteed to put a smile on your face, a clench in your fist and a spring in your step in the face of cheating men everywhere. And it has secured Cherym as a new favourite band for sure.

‘Listening To My Head’ is out now via Alcopop! Records. Catch Cherym live with labelmates (and GIHE faves) cheerbleederz throughout October. Tickets and details here.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

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Track Of The Day: Talking Violet – ‘Caterpillar’ / ‘Superego’

After taking listeners on an audible odyssey with their ethereal extended play, 2018’s Round Dreams – and following last year’s singles, ‘Bloom’ and ‘Indigo’ – Ontario four-piece Talking Violet have returned with ‘Caterpillar’ and ‘Superego’; two solid tracks of dreamy distortion and angsty lyricism which secure the band’s place as alt-rock scientists of dream-pop.

Self-described as “the loudest sleepy band you’ve ever heard”, Talking Violet have wasted no time pushing the boundaries of alternative rock with a cacophony of sonically sound elements; slowing down only to gaze at their guitar pedals. In their laboratory/studio, the Canadian quartet have cultivated their sound, crafting shimmering soundscapes that transcend genre.

First, guitarist Jay Turnbull provides lead vocals on the anxiety-driven ‘Caterpillar’, a hopeful song of self-discovery, and an ode to those of us that feel unsure of ourselves and the journey ahead: “It describes going through a time in my life where I was dealing with intense daily anxiety and felt unsure of how I was going to achieve the goals I set for myself.” From Jay’s strummed guitar melodies to the hazily picked shoe-gaze tones of guitarist Jill Goyeau, ‘Caterpillar’ is seething with emotion; further elevated by bassist Nate Blackton and Jill’s vocal harmonisation.

Next, Talking Violet tackle unhealthy friendships with ‘Superego’; a brooding performance from Jay, who reflects upon his own hesitation to end a close friendship, and accept that it was time to move forward. Jay’s haunting lyrics (“So if you stop and ask why I’m not around / Hope it doesn’t take long to figure it out”) are juxtaposed against a fuzzy soft/loud/soft dynamic reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins, building to a crescendo of distorted guitars, pulsating basslines, and Jeremie Brousseau’s crashing percussion.

Through the experimental use of guitar effects, Talking Violet have developed a dense, atmospheric sound that captures the feeling of dreams. So, grab your dream-pop mixtape, add ‘Caterpillar’ and ‘Superego’ to the tracklist, close your eyes, and press play.

Ken Wynne
@Ken_Wynne

Photo Credit: Kamryn Cusumano

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ALBUM: Fightmilk – ‘Contender’

Recorded in two sessions a year apart, GIHE faves Fightmilk’s second album Contender is worth every second of the wait, following 2018’s Not With That Attitude. The band’s writing and recording process has understandably changed over the past twelve months. Combined with the influence of their new bassist Healey and and an expanded musicality, their style has developed without losing any of the raw emotion at the heart of what makes Fightmilk special.

The album kicks off with an authentic false start. This, along with later interludes, makes for lovely humanising moments that give DIY bands so much charm. Then the music comes in hard and fast. From the first beat, you get big drums, powerful vocals and guitars layered beautifully over each other. The album is rich with riffs, fantastic flourishes of strings that make every song pop. Both in individual tracks and across the album as a whole, the instruments build to roaring climactic moments that launch the vocals to an impressive new reach. The band know how to use their instruments to ramp up the power of every track at exactly the right time.

The songs explore the human experience with Fightmilk’s distinct brand of unapologetic vulnerability. There are wonderfully fuzzy love songs (‘Overbite’, ‘Maybe’) and pettiness-about-your-ex songs and please-dump-your-awful-boyfriend songs (‘Hey Annabelle’). There is also a song about “a hypothetical billionaire and his hypothetical pop-star girlfriend”, which is definitely hypothetical…

The lyrics are intense and personal in a way you can’t help but relate to. Every song is evidently grounded in real experiences and so imbued with emotion. The themes don’t shy away from the darker side of reality, but examine the impact of heartache, the patriarchy or corrupt governments on your soul with a twinkling, scuzzy charm. There’s a great balance between the reflective songs and hopeful ones. It starts and finishes with uplifting tracks that beautifully frame the journey the album takes you on, concluding with a sense of scrappy DIY optimism.

The album captures the essence of 2021 perfectly, drifting easily between plague and feelings and third wave capitalism and exes. The range of powerful energetic songs and more gentle ones fit well alongside each other without jarring. The changes in tone and emotion between tracks flow together with an endearing ease. Contender is at once cathartic, validating and empowering. It’s everything I want in the music that will propel me out of the lockdown slump and into a year that makes up for every lost minute.

Contender is out now via Reckless Yes. Buy on bandcamp now.

Kirstie Summers
@actuallykurt

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FIVE FAVOURITES: girlhouse

A creator of intuitive, catchy indie-pop anthems, Portland-born Nashville-based musician girlhouse aka Lauren Luiz’s debut self-titled EP rings with an earnest charm. Inspired by her relationships, personal learning curves and navigating a new life in L.A, the record balances the joys and frustrations she experienced whilst living in the City Of Angels.

We think one of the best ways to get to know an artist is by asking what music inspired them to write in the first place. We caught up with girlhouse to ask her about her “Five Favourites” – five songs that have inspired her song-writing techniques. Check out her choices below and scroll down to watch her video for her recent single ‘Pretty Girl in LA’ at the end of this post.

1. Sharon Van Etten – ‘Seventeen’
I made the girlhouse EP when I was in the last year of my 20’s and this song became a big part of the soundtrack for that time in my life. The production is so simple but also so huge. I think it lends itself to the story so well. Everything sonically about this song is incredible. Sharon’s vocals also shred in this song. I wish I could go back in time and talk to myself when I was a teenager. I think I would tell her to talk slower and stop trying to be everything for everyone. The music video is so simple and tells the story so perfectly.

2. Big Thief – ‘Shark Smile’
Adrianne Lenker’s style of writing has been a big inspiration for my lyrics for a while now. I think her storytelling and melodies are so poetic and creative, I listen to her songs and it really makes me want to push myself to be better. This song is about a car accident where someone dies but it doesn’t feel sad, it’s really dark and complex! I wanna write songs like that. It was so hard picking just one Big Thief song. The first time I heard them I was on tour while I was driving late at night. I didn’t want to stop driving so I could get through their whole catalogue. I can’t remember where we were or where we were driving to, but it fit perfectly.

3. Phoebe Bridgers – ‘Smoke Signals’
I, like many people with a pulse, am obsessed with Phoebe Bridgers and the honesty in her lyrics. This album put me in a dark place for a long time but art is supposed to do that sometimes, it made me feel things! Phoebe is another one that really makes me wanna be better. She and I used to live in the same neighborhood in LA, I saw her at a yoga class one time in eagle rock and wanted to say Hi so badly, but I got nervous. I think I read that this song was about someone trying to get her attention or breaking up with someone? It’s hard to push someone away, doesn’t feel good ever. I really appreciate her writing about things that aren’t necessarily pretty or perfect.

4. Decemberists – ‘Make You Better’
Picking one Decemberists song is like picking my favourite dog, nearly impossible and a viscerally painful process. This was the first band I ever stanned HARD. They’re from the Pacific Northwest as well so I’ve seen them play Edgefield (an amazing outdoor venue in Oregon) COUNTLESS times, it’s possibly the best vibe in the world. Writing with Colin Meloy has been a goal since I was 12. I picked this song because I feel like it represents how I feel about most of the relationships I’ve had in my life/ I used to be all about seeing the “potential” in people instead of accepting who they are in the moment and that was shitty of me. You gotta let people be people.

5. Lucy Dacus – ‘Night Shift’
For me, there is no better breakup song than this one. I love how the lyrics feel like a letter or a journal entry. It reminds me of being in the valley in LA for some reason, I feel like most of the people I dated and had break-ups with lived in the valley. Lucy’s style of singing feels so effortless and easy to listen to, I don’t feel like she’s trying to do anything cool, she just is the coolest!

Watch the video for girlhouse’s new single ‘Pretty Girl in LA’ below.

Follow girlhouse on Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Alex Justice

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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