Cherubs – Short Of Popular – Album Review
Written by Staff on March 9, 2024
Cherubs – Short Of Popular – Album Review by Joshua Reedy.
(1996)
My copy: 2018 remastered reissue on yellow, pink and blue vinyl by Sonic Surgery Records.
Released two years after the eyebrow raising Heroin Man comes Short Of Popular: a compilation of singles and demos made to cap off the band’s initial run in the ‘90s. Those already sold on the piercing shriek of vocalist Kevin Whitley will feel again at home, to delight also in their uncompromised density. Where Short Of Popular shines most, however, is in the odd quiet moments – feeling experimental and unique in comparison to their usual noise-rock assaults.
Rising slowly into “Carjack Fairy,” the metaphorical bull crashes through the gates immediately with a barrage of fiery riffage: churning over repetitive rhythms. Their guitars bend and slide in a similar manner to The Gun Club though the distortion and tempo split the difference between rockabilly and sludge. The voice nervously rises to the top of the high-end, fighting to tread water of the raucous music. They explore more technical structures in “Chanukka” and “Quitter,” indulging in breakdowns and borrowing more obviously from metal via dynamic thrash segments. “Orange Julius” is all pulp – with walls of acidic textures that crackle like pop rocks.
The intensity is appreciated, but truly capturing such a fervid sound on record can feel like a fool’s errand at times. Songs like “Hakkeboffer” attempt to break stride by toying around the edges of dissonance, fighting genre tropes. “Zip Up Boots” relents to booming bass, feeding guitar lines through perfectly brittle tones before a legitimate solo breaks out. Cherubs have never quite felt like a “guitar solo band” however, making their efforts to warp and mangle the guitar on “Little Candy Hearts” feel much more indicative of their usual creativity. The tremolo guitar of “Oh” buzzes like a mass of hungry flies while “Dazy” pleasantly strips down and plays to conventional melody far more than anything else so far – standing as likely their most complex and inspiring original yet.
The grand finale is a gauntlet of three pop covers, from an endearing rendition of “I Want Candy” to an unsettling, industrial take on “How Little We Know,” the latter succeeding by and far as the most interesting of the trio.
Cherubs have always been a gnarly band, portraying disturbing imagery through a destitute, lo-fi lens of rock. While their heavy moments are enthralling in the right setting, they tend to blur together when stacked side-by-side. Fortunately Short Of Popular does sprinkle in occasions of genre exploration, turning it into a worthwhile venture for fans.
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