Cherry Glazerr Brought the Apocalipstick at The Crocodile

[Photo by Daria Kobayashi Ritch / Rights by Daria, Secretly Canadian]

Pre-Apocalipstick

The year is 2017. It’s a very wet Wednesday evening at The Crocodile, and the stage is covered in female anatomy. 9:00 p.m. hits, the lights dim, and all that can be seen onstage are five black silhouettes. A deep yet soft-spoken voice sings out, “I live a life alone, nothing is real, nobody’s home.” My roommate and I completely lose our cool—we probably still have marks from death-gripping each other throughout the set.

The band is Slow Hollows, a five-piece Los Angeles band, but the audience members unfamiliar with them weren’t aware of who was playing until about two songs until the end of their set. Three minutes later, the sweet sound of a trumpet amidst a simple guitar rhythm greeted the audience. The incorporation of a live trumpet sounded even better than on their album, and it’s good on the album. It’s not every day that you find a band that seamlessly incorporates a trumpet into their work without it being obnoxious or feel overdone. As Slow Hollows played their track, “Easy,” I completely lost all control over my emotions. “Easy” really shows how the lead singer’s voice, Austin Feinstein, suits his writing and composition. The simplicity of the song’s lyrics, alongside the more indie rock guitar riffs, couldn’t be done without the deep and gentle voice of Feinstein. Throughout their set, Slow Hollows mainly played tracks off their recent album, but halfway through, they snuck in some tracks from their first album, Atelophobia. The overall vibe from Slow Hollows’ forty-minute set felt very easy going. Having seen them before—even before Romantic came out—they were a bit self-effacing. With no band introduction until the end of their set and no mention of their newly released album, Slow Hollows came in shy on getting their name out to new listeners. I guess mum’s the word.

The Apocalipstick

Less than an hour later, the lights dimmed again, and out walked two members of Cherry Glazerr. Band member Sasami Ashworth begins to play an extended intro to “Sip o’ Poison,” foreshadowing the start to the Apocalipstick. Less than a minute later, 19-year old Clementine Creevy runs out on stage, belching the lyrics, “A single sip of poison killed a kid who wasn’t shy,” creating a very forward stage presence. It wasn’t until three songs in when Cherry Glazerr played “Instagratification,” and the crowd began to really get into the set. Both “Instagratification,” and “Apocalipstick” set off the crowd to start to mosh. Throughout the night, Creevy made direct comments on many societal taboo subjects regarding women, and joked around with other members onstage. The band was not shy of portraying their new, loud, and direct sound. Throughout most of the set, I found it more difficult to hear Creevy’s lighter voice when she was singing than I did during the times when she was talking into the mic between songs. Even their older lo-fi songs like “Teenage Girl” and “Grilled Cheese” seemed to be remastered to fit their new sound. The band closed out the night with a cover of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings,” allowing one last round of moshing and freedom before going back to the pre-Apocalipstick world.

Post-Apocalipstick

Fans of Cherry Glazerr got a taste of the future for the band with their new sound and new members. Cherry Glazerr remains a female-headed band that’s not afraid to touch on some societal taboo subjects, or to get loud and down on a Wednesday night.

Keep up with Cherry Glazerr: Facebook | Bandcamp | Website

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