Cheerbleederz’s debut album ‘even in jest’ is a raucous ride through relatable feelings, beautiful harmonies, dirty guitar riffs and complex drumbeats. This is an album that needs cranking up, that makes you want to scream along, to blast out the speakers on a summer car ride.
The band’s lyrics are consistently fantastic. The album starts with “I guess lately I haven’t been feeling so likeable” – they have the uncanny ability to distil the mundane frustration of life into words to sing along to. Following tracks have classic punk, Bikini Kill-esque lyrics like “if I can’t have you I’m gonna bash your brains in,” and the single ‘nail biters’ gives the millennial anthem “no worries if not.” The tracks are peppered with screams, laughs, breaths that make the album feel intimate and alive.
The relentless energy of the singles is juxtaposed with some slower tracks like ‘love/hurt’, which brings in some electro beats and feels a bit 80s (and a bit Bo Burnham). As great as the fast, raw, heavy songs are, ‘even in jest’ has range and doesn’t sound samey. It’s refreshing to hear them experiment with different sounds, even different lead singers, but it might leave the listener asking who cheerbleederz are. Are they a supergroup or a side project? Are they moody grunge or breathless pop punk? And why can’t they be all of the above? They’re always going to be compared to their other projects: Fresh, Me Rex, Finish Flag, but I can’t wait to see who cheerbleederz are on their own as they carve out their own identity as a band.
‘even in jest’ is released July 27th via Alcopop! Records.