Cherym Confront Gender Inequality On New Single “Alpha Beta Sigma”

Northern Ireland based pop punks Cherym kick off what promises to be a huge 2024 for the band with their new single, Alpha Beta Sigma. The track opens their long-awaited debut album, Take It Or Leave It, that is set for release on 16th February via Alcopop! Records, the track is a vitriolic statement on the gender inequality and violence against women which still permeate Irish culture. Alongside the new single, the band will supporting Enter Shikari on their 2024 Irish tour dates and have been hand-picked by bassist Mickey Bradley to open for The Undertones on their Autumn 2024 German tour dates.

“We are amidst an ongoing epidemic here in Ireland. Despite modern day Ireland having made some progress in terms of women’s rights, such as the closure of mother and baby homes in the late 1990s and the legalisation of abortion in 2018 (south of Ireland) and 2019 (north of Ireland), what remains is a deeply embedded culture of violence against women. In the last 5 years we have seen a huge rise in gender based crimes against women and girls in this country. We have witnessed the trivialisation of violence and victim-blaming attitudes from the police, the government and the media. ‘Alpha Beta Sigma’ is about how gender inequality permeates every single aspect of our society. It is about the threat that men and patriarchy pose to women in this country. It is about the reclamation of our autonomy and our rights. It’s about freedom from fear and freedom to physical integrity, and overall it’s about having the freedom to just BE a woman.” (drummer Alannagh Doherty)

The band recorded their forthcoming debut album Take It Or Leave It in 2023 with long-term producer and friend George Perks at Vada Studios in Alcester, just outside Birmingham. Not only is Take It Or Leave It chock full of pop-punk hooks and melodies, it’s also bravely and lucidly political, much more so than anything the band have written previously.

“We wanted this record to be our testimony as a band on topics like abortion rights in the North of Ireland, the fall of the church, being trans, being gay. We were well prepared for the haters whenever we wrote it, hence the album title, but I also think it’s important to note that this is probably the most honest we have ever been in our music and as a band.” (Alannagh Doherty)