When I wrote about Cheatah’s self-titled debut album in last year’s round-up of my favorite albums of 2014, the common theme was that throughout every song there was were in the very least a small element of a sound reminding me of bands from the 90’s. Some songs gave a strong vibe of everything throughout Swervedriver’s career. Some songs sounded like American slacker rock like Dinosaur Jr, some like shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine and Ride. What made them all the songs stand out was their own song-writing. The influences were strong and resonated quite profoundly through the speakers, but the songs were most definitely there. It was almost like a beautiful and perfectly constructed tribute album to so many of that decades influential guitar bands. How are those bands influential today in an era that seems to be trending more and more away from rock & roll bands towards hip-hop and electronic dance music? Well I would like to think it’s more than influencing new bands to merely emulate them and ride out on sounds of the past, and that was the big question with this band. I love their first album, and if they kept doing what they did best, it would certainly be … adequate, I guess? But what is next? Well, according to this EP, more of the same. But there is a change here that is welcome and refreshing, despite how uneven, short, and poorly mixed this EP is (and that horrendous artwork; budget problems, guys?). Two songs, ‘Campus’ and ‘No Drones’ are more rockier affairs, and feel like an extension of their debut album. But then there is the title track, ‘Sunne’, and the incredibly gorgeous ‘Controller’. The latter is what makes this EP shine, and shows the biggest hope for the band’s future. It’s all their influences combined into one, with tidal waves of guitars backing this Ride-esque vocal chorus that frankly shocked me, feeling surprised they were actually capable of such a track. One track alone feels like this incredible feat of progress that bodes well for what they are going to come up with next. Of course this could be it for them, who really knows? But if that one song is their creative peak, then they certainly should be quite proud of what they’ve accomplished as so many of their contemporaries would absolutely kill to come up with a tune that strong. Overall, the entire EP is a great step forward, despite its flaws of not giving us more. If they can hide their influences more and have listeners thinking they are listening to a Cheatahs record, instead of name-dropping their inspirations, it may be one hell of a record.

Label

Wichita Recordings