PWR BTTM - Ugly Cherries

A non-stop race through a scribbled diary of wryly funny observations and pursuits of love, PWR BTTM’s debut – all glitter-daubed drag, and fuzz-covered confusion – is far more than a record of well-crafted rock songs about boys. Queerness in music is no new phenomenon, granted, but with this New York band, there’s a brilliantly unaffected honesty to their songwriting. Roughed-up, off-balance, and at times very messy, PWR BTTM’s music channels all the swerves and turns of navigating the world as an outsider.

Like Pansy Division, Limp Wrist, and countless queercore bands before them, PWR BTTM have opted for a silly, tongue-in-cheek band name. This is a very funny record, too; glammy, campy, and peppered with smirking moments. In one such moment Liv Bruce gives out their email address for potential suitors in ‘I Wanna Boi’. “Am I making a fool of myself?” they ask on ‘Serving Goffman’ – the title being a hat-doff to sociologist Erving Goffman (natch). The answer? ”I sure hope so.”

Elsewhere, there are subtle pronoun flips all over the place – none being slicker than the razor-sharp nonchalance of the title-track, with the declaration, “My girl gets scared can’t take him anywhere.” Though these are all very smart twists to a well-crafted record, they’re not delivered with a sideways wink. For all its inherent playfulness,’Ugly Cherries’ is at heart a very sincere record.

Bought up on a diet of The Shins, My Chemical Romance, and pop divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in more or less equal measure, PWR BTTM’s love of a straight-up banger is evident, and accordingly they have written a debut full with simple, well-executed craft . ‘Nu 1’ buzzes and builds momentum like a rocket-fuelled pendulum, finding its way from stripped-back beginnings to a gigantic slab of sunshine. ‘All The Boys’ jitters and shimmies with rowdy garage-rock charm, and a grinning chant of “bitch, I might be.” The quick-smart, carefully-shaped rock songs just keep coming. Sad, hilarious, love-struck, and – to use Bruce’s own words - “gaymazing,” ‘Ugly Cherries’ is an album that shows every facet at once, without ever breaking sweat. No mean feat.