Look, the only thing about Cheekface’s surprise album that would actually surprise is if it were bad. Or if didn’t sound like Cake for a chronically burned-out demographic whose prized possession is their Rate Your Music account. Contrary to what some might think, those two aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s been four Cheekface albums fired out now since 2019; what more proof do you need?! They’ve always been a complete joy of a band and have only gotten better, especially as prime gap-closers between the DIY scene and all-American power-pop that—better late than never—is getting its flower for how phenomenal it can actually be. Plus, namechecking The Needle Drop is all but guaranteed to get the attention of a certain sect of online music devotees, regardless of what you sound like.
Speaking of which, Anthony Fantano did feature their album Too Much To Ask on his Best Albums of 2022 list, which has to be at least some half-decent windfall for an independent band that’s also this accessible. The ‘surprise release’ strategy isn’t for everyone, but you can infer a gestating little moment that Cheekface are capitalising on here, perhaps even enough to make their self-adopted tagline “America’s local band” hold some more water. You’d certainly hope so when their upward trend hasn’t stopped yet, perhaps even reaching its sharpest spike up yet.
It’s probably easiest to start by circling back to Cake in this discussion, and how It’s Sorted is easily Cheekface’s most refined and pronounced homage to date. The bass that’s always taken an above-average share arguably does even more so, compounded by the sharpened guitars and thick, blocky buzzes of synth. The pinprick centre of their Venn diagram comes from I Am Continuing To Do My Thing and Grad School, a pair of songs where the concepts of groove and strut and weirdo rubbery kineticism are deliquesced into their absolute purest form. There’s also the matter of Greg Katz doing the single most blatant John McCrea impression you’ve ever heard with his immovable monotone speaking voice, though the (appropriately) tongue-in-cheek style doused across Cheekface’s work plays much, much closer to loving recreation than parody or, even worse, a plain bad idea.
No, Cheekface actually seem remarkably assured of what they’re doing on It’s Sorted. Well, as assured it’s possible to be, anyway, when your album is built from wordy, neurotic musings on the worth of being an individual while tied to the never-ending grind of the capitalist gristmill. And just like plenty of the DIY scene left to wade through a similar (if not the same) conundrum, the fact that Cheekface’s response is to dial up a persona of quippy little quirksters should tell you that there’s an answer there somewhere. “Success is cringe,” they cry out on opener The Fringe, with the express notion of an overrun personality that’s maxed out on with total glee throughout.
And that’s kind of fitting considering the power-pop that Cheekface clearly idolise, where the tacit intelligence would manifest in similarly bright and buoyant ways. The difference is that there’s nothing tacit about It’s Sorted at all. Beyond the actual style of the production—deliberately pared-back and humble, apropos of the DIY ethos—Cheekface are broadcasting a borderline cartoonish exuberance to the world. Life In A Bag might fit that mould the cleanest, a huge throwback to an incredibly particular stripe of ‘90s and 2000s pop-rock, with the record scratching and quasi-rapping that wears its anachronistic corniness as entirely the point. (Genuine Sugar Ray and Smash Mouth vibes in 20-bloody-24!) And it’s not like that’s all Cheekface are capable of, either; directly following is Trophy Hunting At The Zoo, closer to the Butthole Surfers in the realm of ‘90s alt oddities, with more motorik, on-edge tension that isn’t the most comfortable fit, but is hardly a wasted effort.
It’s Sorted pulses and oozes with enough unfettered charm to where that’s never the case. It’s not even remotely close, either. In a scene that can too often feel interchangeable or samey, or disenchanted by ricocheting hype and adulation that’s often oversold, Cheekface blow the roof off any of that. They always have, and now with a new gold-standard under their belt in terms of the purest fun that indie-pop can muster. It really is about time some of the attention towards them starts ramping up; they’ve been consistently improving album over album since the very beginning, which is no small feat when their own prolificness could easily be a crutch. On their own merits, every factor that could stymie Cheekface is blown apart and stamped into the dirt by the purity of this excellence. “Success is cringe,” they say, as if they aren’t lapping everyone in the vicinity by a frankly stupid degree.
For fans of: Cake, Jeff Rosenstock, Pavement
‘It’s Sorted’ by Cheekface is out now.
Words by Luke Nuttall
