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Kyle Harms has had a busy year on the grindstone since putting out the debut Cherry Cheeks LP on Total Punk records. He finally left the swamplands of Florida for Portland and is gearing up for a massive tour with fellow freaks and UTG alumni Gee Tee and Research Reactor Corp. Before getting out of the hellhole, Kyle recorded one last punk rock EP before giving the middle finger to the sunshine state for good. Entirely produced by Kyle (Art, Production, Songwriting, the usual trilogy) Cherry Radio sees Kyle exploring sweeter melodies and less wired riffage. Whereas the self titled LP sounded like a panic attack, this EP is more like a picnic with friends in the middle of a volcano.
Our take: I loved Cherry Cheeks’ debut LP on Total Punk Records, and I’m pretty sure other people did too, as I remember that record selling out quickly. Now they’re back with another 6-song EP, and it’s just as good, if not better. All six tracks are just brimming with hooks… let’s take the first one, “UFO,” for example. After a quick rhythmic intro with marching-band snare and some tension-building noodling, they introduce a killer guitar hook that evokes the spooky theremin melodies in old sci-fi movies. Before you’ve digested that, the vocals come in with a big melody in the verses, and then rather than go with a broad hook in the chorus, the bottom falls out of the song and it returns to the intro’s marching-band rhythm and that infectious intro guitar hook. After another verse, they make the same move into the intro-as-chorus, but this time over top of it we get the big singalong chorus melody we’ve been waiting for the whole time. Then, just like that, the song is over and it’s on to the next mini-masterpiece. There’s no chance to catch your breath over the course of these 11 short minutes… it’s just hook after hook after hook. Even if you’re a dabbler in the world of Total Egg Punks that Cherry Cheeks lives in, they’re worth checking out, as this band is one of the best things going in that corner of the scene.
Our take: I loved Cherry Cheeks’ debut LP on Total Punk Records, and I’m pretty sure other people did too, as I remember that record selling out quickly. Now they’re back with another 6-song EP, and it’s just as good, if not better. All six tracks are just brimming with hooks… let’s take the first one, “UFO,” for example. After a quick rhythmic intro with marching-band snare and some tension-building noodling, they introduce a killer guitar hook that evokes the spooky theremin melodies in old sci-fi movies. Before you’ve digested that, the vocals come in with a big melody in the verses, and then rather than go with a broad hook in the chorus, the bottom falls out of the song and it returns to the intro’s marching-band rhythm and that infectious intro guitar hook. After another verse, they make the same move into the intro-as-chorus, but this time over top of it we get the big singalong chorus melody we’ve been waiting for the whole time. Then, just like that, the song is over and it’s on to the next mini-masterpiece. There’s no chance to catch your breath over the course of these 11 short minutes… it’s just hook after hook after hook. Even if you’re a dabbler in the world of Total Egg Punks that Cherry Cheeks lives in, they’re worth checking out, as this band is one of the best things going in that corner of the scene.