If you’ve kept up with Charli XCX’s Instagram in the last few months, chances are you’ve seen the words “Nasty Cherry” plugged quite a few times in tandem. Both Charli and the band themselves were gracious enough to cue us into the fact that they are an-all girl band through a series of cryptic Instagram posts, but held the element of surprise on most other details.
Now, Charli XCX (and Nasty Cherry themselves) are finally ready to clarify for us who they are and what they sound like, in the form of their new single, “Win”. With classic pop hooks buried under the reverb of the guitars, it certainly seems like Nasty Cherry are doing nothing but winning here. A mix of bubblegum pop and heavy alt-rock, NC’s sound carries distinct audio hallmarks from the likes of Joan Jett, married with splashes of ’90s dreamrock a la Sex Pistols and the Cure.
Comprised of lead singer Gabby Bechtel, guitarist Chloe Chaidez (of Kitten), bassist Georgia Somary, and drummer Debbie Knox-Hewson (who was also Charli’s drummer back in 2014), NC describe themselves as the band that would come about “if Robert Smith was created by Andy Warhol in the Factory, or The Strokes, if they all had vaginas.” Charli herself is not in the band, but she does play quite an active role as what could be considered an honorary fifth member, and has reportedly been involved one way or another in writing all of their songs.
“We wrote [Win] with Charli, and it was one of the first songs we wrote all together,” vocalist Georgia Somary tells Noisey of “Win” in a recent interview. “She came over and Chloe was rollerskating around the living room playing this riff on her guitar, saying ‘I need to win, I need to win’ and Charli was furiously writing the lyrics on her phone.”
“I think it’s got what could be considered a lot of male energy about it, and I think that’s really cool coming from women—being very fearless in saying what you want and taking it. Gabby reminds me of Bruce Springsteen for some reason,” vocalist Debbie Knox-Hewson adds. Fearless it is, indeed, and we can only imagine what will come next for the four-piece as they release their next fiesty, female-empowering singles.
The girls are also playing their first headline show in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge on Friday March 15th, so if you live in L.A. and are feeling bold, definitely go check it out: we can only assume they’ll be giving us an exclusive sneak peek on what’s to come. And what better way to spend your Friday night than in the city catching some great tunes.
