It’s always kind of weird when I find out about new music… through the fashion industry. Then I remember how extremely intertwined the two industries are. (Quite.) Then, it makes perfect sense that, along with a mind-blowing use of silk or leather on a runway, a mind-blowing 18 year old rock & roll chanteuse may emerge from the creative pool, as well.
I first read about the Los Angeles band Cherry Glazerr in Nylon Magazine, but after a little more reading realized that I’d heard their sound before in Hedi Slimane’s first videos for Yves Saint Laurent.
“Trick or Treat Dancefloor,” the track used in Hedi Slimane’s videos was penned by Cherry Glazerr’s frontwoman, 18 year old Clementine Creevy. Like many other fresh-faced young women, she is well-spoken, educated and cool as hell. In her Nylon interview, she mentions how she manages her the band, herself, while attending school and juggling a small recurring role on Transparent, and admires women like Meryl Streep and Bell Hooks.
Much like the rest of this cool, new generation, she is smarter and more interesting than I am. And better at Tumblr.
After some solo songs on SoundCloud got passed to the heads over at Burger Records, Creevy joined Hannah Uribe and Sean Redman, forming sunny summer grunge group, Cherry Glazerr.
Whenever I read about a band before actually hearing them, it makes me nervous. Especially if I like what I’m reading and therefore really want to like the band… it can be extremely disappointing if their music doesn’t rock. A band that also does arctic expeditions and feeds the poor in their spare time, plus they all wear amazing shoes? Awww, but they cover Blondie songs in the style of Nickelback. Now that is depressing.
Such was not the case with Cherry Glazerr. This band is the inverse of the disappointing scenario above. The moment I put their records on and heard that reverberated West Coast lead guitar (a beautiful black Rickenbacker for those playing along at home), I knew that this band was going to be on my playlists for weeks to come.
Back to Hedi Slimane and YSL: they weren’t done with Cherry Glazerr after that adorable hooping video, no. They commissioned Cherry Glazerr to write a tune for the Yves Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2014 runway exhibition. Thus, “Had Ten Dollaz” was born.
Having watched easily over 500 runway shows in the last five years alone, I’m used to thumping, synthetic beats creating the kind of atmosphere you might experience at, say, a Forever 21. I’ve never been a fan. Popping “Had Ten Dollaz” on, I was instantly plunged into a world that was a mix of dive bar and the cover of Garbage’s first album: fluffy and pink, with a few cigarette burns here and there, and maybe some gum stuck to something. Now this is a fresh lens to view high fashion through, and a refreshing break from the minimalist ambient monotony.
They sound effortless – the kind of effortless that makes you wish you had been in a band in high school, but really you know that it ironically takes a lot of talent to sound like this angelic, unfettered ingenue. Over “Had Ten Dollaz,” Creevy quickly hypnotizes with her Californian dream-pop-tinted howl, only to jump up to a Cobain-worthy raspy yell at the chorus. Adding a little Vitamin D to the sleepy sounds of grunge rock may be just what this coast needed.
If you like this, then you’ll like Cherry Glazerr
– Cat Power / Chan Marshall
– California-cool Ida Maria
– Hole’s “Live Through This” album
– Lana Del Rey
– PINS
– The intro to Pete & Pete (it’s called “Hey Sandy” by Polaris, if you’re curious)
In the Rookie-heralded “Teenage Girl,” the casual, walking strum switches into a frenzied and harried chorus: “teenage girl, doot do doot doot do” and right back to verses describing in nostalgic fragments the elements that create the teenage experience.
https://soundcloud.com/burgerrecords/cherry-glazerr-teenage-girl
Milkshakes and cat eyes
Lipstick and french fries
Internalize so much but so little
Don’t make us feel belittled, world
Other favorites from their early 2014 release, Haxel Princess, include the broken heart anthem, “Bloody Bandaid,” and the oddly sensual “Grilled Cheese” which I’m proud to say is my new “getting ready” music. It’s more fitting than you know.
Keep Up with Cherry Glazerr
The band seems to favor Bandcamp (buy their album(s) for under $8, please), but you can find them all over the ‘net, and soon they’ll be on your TV and in your playlists, too.
Bonus: A super cool tour video from their bouts with The Musty Boys when they were on tour with Sky Ferreria.