CD of The Week

You’d be hard-pressed to find another pandemic-era band more prolific than L.A.’s Cheekface. The UK’s The Bug Club, maybe. Ironically, both of these bands possess the ability to inject humor into the mundanity of everyday life, creating quirky, punky songs full of delight and thoughtfulness. On Cheekface’s sixth full length album Podium, the catchy hooks are plentiful and muscular. First-time Cheekface producer Eric Palmquist gives them a fuller, beefier sound with appropriate horn sections and a throwback hip-hop vibe on a few songs that recalls the 90’s when it seemed every alternative act experimented with turntables and samples. Turntabilist Teddy Roxpin provides the scratches, etc. on multiple Podium tracks.

Are Cheekface the most political band of this era? You could certainly make that argument since they recently turned down a corporate jingle offer due to the company’s ICE funding. Here, world sorrow and sociopolitical dread are felt in lead singer Greg Katz’s simple yet poignant lyrics. He eviscerates the absurdity of our times with a humorous point of view that forces you to laugh instead of crying. It’s a refreshing take on how to deal with the constant barrage of insane executive orders and unnecessary culture wars. Album opener “Hostile Street” crafts a hopeful love story around the cruel trend of making public seating uncomfortable for the unhoused. “Black Site” highlights the frequent hopelessness felt at times; “I boycotted everything, Nothing got better, It only got worse.” Capitalism and overt patriotism is skewered on “I Don’t Work Here” as Katz sings. “Do we dare to spark a joint on the burning flag’s ashes?”

Despite the cheery feel of Cheekface’s music, they can get dark at times. On “MFT,” vocals are shared with bassist Amanda Tannen as they play characters; one, a female in crisis, the other, a possible AI therapist of sorts. On “Discrete,” they channel Viagra Boys and highlight those who challenge the orthodoxy as an exhausted armchair protestor exclaiming, “They’re getting rid of democracy, we look at phone instead.” Closing track “I Decline” summarizes the overall malaise with mention of a thousand memes rolling by.

“There Is a God” and “No Fly Zone” are some of Cheekface’s strongest songs on Podium. The former pokes fun at cheesy pick-up lines, or maybe an awkward first date, and the latter, according to the band, is about “the temptation to get back with your sh*tty ex… as a political metaphor… up to your interpretation.” Katz is definitely a funny dude and his signature song-speak vocals put him (and the band) somewhere between The B-52’s and Cake. Their weirdo, nerdy aesthetic serves them well as they use wit to tackle both the doldrums and perks of our confusing and confused world.

Be a good ‘Cheek Freak’ and catch Cheekface at Underground Arts in Philadelphia on Friday, September 18th, presented by Y-Not Radio.