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Cherym
February 15, 2024| RELEASE REVIEW

Cherym – Take It Or Leave It | Album Review

Honestly, you’re not going to want to leave this.

Originally forming as a kick-back against the male dominated punk scene found within their native Northern Ireland, Cherym are a band fulled by a personal mission statement, a declaration composed of two unique intentions. The first, is to release music that highlights the culturally ingrained prejudice against women and non-binary people within Generation Z. The second, seemingly, is a desire is to be one of the biggest bands on the planet. The first declaration is righteous and noble – the latter lofty – but with their debut Cherym smash the first part of their mission statement whilst working towards their final goal with impressive zeal.

The follow up to a couple of brilliant extended plays, Take It Or Leave It is 10 tracks of wonderfully zingy pop-punk / rock that sound euphoric, urgent and fresh. Whilst the majority of pop-punk and pop-punk adjacent bands currently on the market may be sterile and stagnant – not to mention conceptually void of substance – this record is the perfect counteragent to the mass produced content currently being manufactured by the boys club that have a monopoly on the scene. It’s a radiant antithesis of rage-fuelled joy that harkens back to the sun-kissed halcyon days of pop-punk long before the cultural rot associated with the modern scene seeped in, but also a record that has vital progressive vales at heart. Quite frankly, Take It Or Leave It is impossible not to adore.

Opener ‘Alpha Beta Sigma’ and the immediate follow-up of ‘The Thing About Them’ immediately establishes the sense of both rage and joy inherent to the record. As the former draws parallels between the bigotry of Catholic Church and violent incel types who worship figureheads such as Andrew Tate whilst the latter celebrates queer joy whilst uprooting the xenophobic roots embedded within our nation’s cultural foundation, the biting but sugar-laced fangs of this record are exposed from the get-go.

However, what makes the snarling and smirking record so irresistible is it’s sense of charm, organic chemistry and just how healing it sounds. ‘Taking Up Sports’ is fair-sporting anthem dedicated to a new crush and ‘Colourblind’ is a classic slice of personal pop-rock that harkens current contemporaries such as Cheerbleederz, Meet Me @ The Altar, and with it’s vocal harmonies, even thoughts of the more pop-orientated work of mid-naughties Coheed And Cambria. These fair weather and more personal songs may be less urgent than the tracks addressing bigotry and cultural issues omnipresent, but they are still delivered with the same sense of vitality and kinetic passion that makes the record so immensely enjoyable. Even the slow ballad of ‘Binary Star’, a track that stands as Cherym’s approach to a Taylor Swift-esque arena-ready belter, sounds forefront and massive.

But truly, in an age where the majority of pop-punk and music of it’s ilk feels most insipid, Take It Or Leave It see’s Cherym driven and inspired. In fact, one of the most brilliant aspects of this record is how it revitalises the pop-punk and rock formula without exactly changing it. It may sound familiar, approachable, even almost nostalgic at times, but this is a record that’s irrefutably fresh and modern. It’s impossible not to feel lifted or spiritually energised when greeted with the carbonated sweetness of ‘AW TYSM’ or the ADHD anthem that is ‘Do It Another Day’, or reflect upon bittersweet romantic failures when graced with the snarling sweetness of ‘It’s Not Me It’s You’.

Here, Cherym take a sound and genre that’s been exhausted from prolonged neglect and infuse with purposeful inventiveness to ensure it spreads the band’s vital message of community and inclusion with radiant joy. Overall, Take It Or Leave It is a vessel of youthful euphoria impossible not to heed, and is a record that may ultimately stand as one of 2024’s best pop rock records come the end of the year.

Score: 9/10


Cherym