Cherry Glazerr - Stuffed & Ready

There have always been underlying parallels between LA’s Cherry Glazerr and NY’s Sunflower Bean. Both emerged when still in their teens; both are fronted by ridiculously cool women who also happen to stomp the catwalk on occasion. But while the Beans have steadily upped the classic rock influence on their increasingly radio-friendly arsenal, Clementine Creevy and co have resolutely stayed in the stranger underbelly of guitar music’s backwaters. ‘Stuffed & Ready’ is not a Radio One-courting listen; lacing the frontwoman’s sing-song vocal over gnarly riffs and big, dark, emotionally weighty numbers, there’s something claustrophobic about its overall vibe. ‘Wasted Nun’ is all breathy desperation, ‘That’s Not My Real Life’ adds some Cure-esque guitar lines to up the self-doubt while ‘Isolation’ is just as bleak, heart-wringing an effort as you might expect from the title.

While not a record that’s likely to raise their star, ‘Stuffed & Ready’ is one that shows a band resolutely ploughing their own furrow without compromise. An album that suggests its singer may have been through the emotional wringer during its creation, Clementine should at least find some comfort in its cathartic results.