Punk rock girl band Cherym is riding high on their recent signing to Alcopop Records, a dream come true to lead signer Hannah Richardson who has wanted to be on that management’s books for years! This also coincides with their latest release of ‘Kisses on My Cards‘, an almost anti-valentines slant on the whole couple’s day of celebration.
Cherym has been performing across these islands for some years, hosting their own album launches, thrashing it out at festivals and supporting other bands from a similar genre, basically raising energy levels to any venue they’ve rocked out in! Hannah (lead vocals/guitar) Nyree Porter (bass/backing vocals) and Alannagh Doherty (drums) are an ‘in your face’ girl punk band whose performances I’ve had the pleasure of attending and photographing. Whenever you hear them being announced on stage, you will always see the crowd move away from the bar and head towards the front to get closer to what’s about to happen, pure unadulterated ear drum magic!
The track starts off as a clean and clear cut electric guitar riff, setting up for the drums, which are in the safe hands of recentish addition Alannagh, we’re greeted with the on-point vocals that Hannah lays down, again, as always, pitch-perfect. It’s hard not to draw comparisons between new music and old, but this song has a solid 80’s feel to it, which then draws you to the original punk icon, Blondie. Listening to ‘Hanging on The Telephone’ and then listening to ‘Kisses on My Cards’ you can’t help hear the similarities in theme, that age-old question: “Where the fn€k do I stand? Just talk to me!”
Hannah admits that this song a little autobiographical, in that it’s about her falling in love with a boy again, having lived a life of bisexuality and not being with the male of the species for some time. As she jokingly explains “All the right signals are there, but both parties are too weird n awkward to know how to proceed. It is an anthem for all hot stubborn gays of the world feeling the emotional pressures of admitting to an attraction without the whole “my mate wants to know will you kiss her?” routine”.
This Derry band’s song asks the very same question with the added epitaph “because I’m done trying” to figure it out.
Who hasn’t been worried about shooting their shot and missing?
