Manchester Punk Festival Releases 37th Compilation
Manchester Punk Festival have released the 37th volume of their compilation series ahead of this year’s festival. Manchester Punk Festival Vol. 37 is…
Take It Or Leave It - Alcopop! Records
It’s early 2024. The Northern Ireland Assembly has just been reconstituted after an absence of two years. For our readers in GB and the rest of the punk world, this is a matter of little relevance. Except that in that Assembly of elected politicians are individuals who wholeheartedly – enthusiastically – endorse the view that our planet is only 6000 years old and that all of it was created in seven days by a beneficent God. These are not swivel-eyed loons on street corners, finding sin in every heart and braying through megaphones. These are career politicians. But whatever they are, however extreme and conservative their views, they are only mirrors to sections of their electorate. The most progressive of these people are yet to catch up with 20th century views and thoughts, never mind the present day.
So without over-egging this particularly unpalatable pudding, here’s a takeaway from my presentation: Northern Ireland can be a depressingly shitty place to be on the margins. I’ve been an observer for over 30 years. A blow-in from GB living in a genteel coastal town where the bigotry is neatly tucked behind expensive blinds and curtains. And so, from just up the road in Derry are Cherym, a ‘queer pop-punk band’ who very much want you to know that things have got to change, but they also want you to sing and dance and have a fucking good time. Take It Or Leave It opens with the absolutely barnstorming Alpha Beta Sigma which is pure blissful power pop but packing a hugely affirming and personal lyrical manifesto, excoriating the stagnant and repressive mindsets of church, state and Andrew Tate. Anger has never been so singalong. The growling and off-kilter bass intro to The Thing About Them is a little unsettling and the song launches into a feisty and buzzing pronoun-focused tirade. Taking Up Sports has a brilliant teen mag love story vibe that harks back to The Undertones‘ finest scabby knee youth club love stories (maybe it’s a Derry thing). If I Was A Man continues in the same vein, a street level view of childhood resonant with injustice and discrimination.
It’s invidious to pick favourites but the acoustic-led Binary Star is a gorgeous, smouldering slow-cooker that springs into aching life, and album-closer It’s Not Me, It’s You should be on every radio everywhere forever. It’s that good. There is not one second of filler on this whole jukebox hit machine of an album. It’s super-accessible punk pop with nods to the more populist end of the punk spectrum. Recorded with long-term producer and friend George Perks at Vada Studios in Alcester, just outside Birmingham, the album has a classic and timeless powerpop feel that evokes Avril Lavigne at the height of her powers, or Green Day at their poppiest. Let’s be clear, this is a first class debut full length from (in an ideal world) a to-be-important band on a sharp upwards trajectory. I’d catch them now if you can.
The drums thunder, the bass growls, the guitars sparkle and fizz. The harmonies are gorgeous. The messages are clear and important. Not gloomy diatribes from the margins but a joyous affirmation that after all, we’re all the same. Even if we’re different.Highly recommended.
Take It Or Leave It by Cherym is out on the 16th February via Alcopop! Records