Chokecherry ‘Ripe Fruit Rots And Falls’

Through a haze of fuzzed guitars, Chokecherry sing ‘it’s the beginning of the end’ during ‘You Love It When’. A chorus of ‘what a waste of time’ rocks through the distortion. An attitude of unimpressed with society’s leaders destroying their future pervades.

Chokecherry’s debut album Ripe Fruit Rots And Falls tells the viewpoint of the duos upbringing in the Bay Area during a time the world is at its greatest yet continues to destroy itself from the inside. Be it in the politics of that area, or the disappointment that comes with a heartbreak, Chokecherry tell us with the attitude of the younger generation that are beaten into apathy yet driven by a fire inside for more.

A blend of post punk, shoe gaze and alt rock, Izzie Clark and E. Scarlett Levinson make music you can dance to, you can get ethereal to and music that you can quote lines from. If the heroines in Tarantino movies could make music, it would be this.

Opener, Porcelain Warrior is rather understated at first, a lone guitar and soulful voice piercing the silence, however the first chills of many arrive when both Clark’s and Levinson’s voices match as the song kicks in, showcasing a splendid ability to catch those moments that make you stop and just listen.

Major Threat pitches you back to the time Punk ruled the world. Catchy, spiteful and with the lyrics ‘out of my fucking way’, it’s great to listen to when on your way to work.

And that’s the beauty of the album, while the sonic vibe, and just pulled back vocals, place this squarely in shoegaze, the duo are not scared to throw down some fury with spite and aggression.

Sonically, the fuzz distortion works, playfully weaving jigs into solos, and upbeat dance beats into Pretty Things, or nods to old school 80’s British post punk in Secrets.

The Bay Area is one of the most creatively diverse places in the world, decades of being a hotbed of students still determined to impact the world for the better does that, and that vibrancy permeates throughout the record.

Part Of You is a beautiful track of melodies and soft guitars, yet lyrically deals with sadness and despair of a love burning in gunfire. A powerful juxtaposition musically and lyrically.

Final track, the album title, tells of a weary soul clinging to hope, the duo vocals beautifully harmonising before fading out.

Finding something fresh and new is hard to come by, yet Chokecherry may well be your best bet this year. Passive yet aggressive, introspective and exposed, Chokecherry’s debut album is more than an record. It’s an emotion, it’s a sound, it’s an attitude of ‘no more’ and it will stop you in your tracks and force you to listen.

Album Review By Iain McCallum

RIPE FRUIT ROTS AND FALLS – OUT NOVEMBER 14
https://ffm.to/cc_rfrf