Freak, loser, odd, queer, nerd, weird. All too familiar-if-distant schoolyard memories for some – most? Most. Hearkening back to formative experiences of mocking and intentional exclusion, Cherym’s latest single ‘Weird Ones’ demands space – for itself, and for those who relate. Welcome to the ‘WeIRd oNes CLASS OF 2020’.
Jam-packed with real sense of empowerment, a reclamation of slurs and self with a hefty amount of defiance, ‘Weird Ones’ is an outsider’s acknowledgement and triumph. Penned about a friend suddenly going cold and joining a new social circle, the track channels its bitterness and resentment into taking a stand. Sounding like a grittier version of bubblegum-punk contemporaries Beach Bunny and Charly Bliss but with all the ferocity of the 2000s scene, Cherym fuse together decades of the genre that precedes them on a track that’s as raw as it is shiny.
Filling the glaring gap where punchy, anthemic cries of self-acceptance should be, ‘Weird Ones’ could be this era of pop-punk’s answer to ‘Misery Business’ – without the internalised misogyny, thank god. What the latter tried to do in 2007 for a problematic and outdated version of ‘feminism’, Cherym do right, now, inclusively and intersectionally. Driving this home with a wry kind of fun, the Derry trio posted stylised yearbook photographs on their social media accompanied with quotes like “My parents wanted straight A’s … but I’m not even straight,” courtesy of Alannagh Doherty (drums and vocals).
Here’s a first listen on us, ‘Weird Ones’ is set for release tomorrow.