Everyone is looking for a ‘new sound’ these days, something that no one’s done before or heard before. Yet this is also the time of sonic revivals, of older sounds becoming new again thanks to new acts doing old sounds (it’s also the time of old bands reviving old records…). Youngsters can breathe new life into something you last heard before .mp3s even existed, or they can just reanimate a corpse with a retread. Thankfully on their self-titled debut, Cheatahs teach the old dog of fuzzy rock some new tricks.
After the washing sub-minute intro instrumental “I”, Cheatahs gets down to the business of being both pressing and expressing, delivering that fuzzy indie-rock you forgot you loved on songs like “Geographic”, “The Swan”, and “Kenworth”. There’s definitely a hint of the neo-John Hughes acts such as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (QRO live review) on the cheerier tracks such as “Northern Exposure”, but Cheatahs also mix in at times more guitar rawk (“Get Tight”), road-press (“Leave To Remain”), and atmospherics (“IV”).
Admittedly, all the fuzz on Cheatahs does lead the tracks to blend together a bit – but you could say the same of chillwave. Overall, the young band takes some great old sounds and puts in just enough new flavoring.
Cheatahs – Geographic
