Cherry Heaven - Cherry Heaven

​Cherry Heaven

Very Pleasing and Desired
self-released; 2017

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Cherry Heaven is a collaboration between Timothy Steingraeber and Cole Williams. They released a lo-fi effort entitled Very Pleasing and Desired. The band mixes different genres like shoegaze and garage rock with varying degrees of success.

“Let's Go All The Way” is one of the stronger songs and it felt influenced by Primal Scream. Bobby Gillespie came to mind when I heard the vocals. The vocals are covered in so much reverb you can’t make out much of what's being said. I can't say there are any hooks in the song which grabbed my attention but I did like the percussive aspects of the song.

The second track “Denim Lightning” has some minor issues. They occasionally get off time; the singer gets noticeably off key and the song can’t find the right energy in order to take off. Luckily, the band gets on track with a standout entitled “Mary Nohl.” The mix of electronic elements and melancholy reverb laced guitars make an interesting concoction of noises somewhere between electronic and shoegaze. This track is repeat worthy. Similar to the some other songs the vocals lack a melodic hook that you might want to hum along with.

The duo has more success in the instrumental department on “Lost Merit Badge.” It’s a bit dance-y and reminded me of Out Hud. The vocals were still very hard to understand on this song. “Dreamy” is about as close to a pop song as you are going to get. This song had the most melodic and memorable vocal hooks. There were some catchy lines on this song and oddly reminded me of The Smith if they used synths. "Dreamy" is a song I could imagine a large demographic enjoying quite a bit.

“Exploding Stars” had a earlier shoegaze sound reminiscent of The Jesus and Mary Chain. “Creepin’” is a slightly funky space odyssey. The closer is a little more subdued and emotionally resonant than their previous efforts. 

​Cherry Heaven is a duo that shows some potential with this effort as well as some very unique sounds. There were some inspired moments especially when it came to the instrumental sections. I’d love to hear them expand off the success they had with “Mary Nohl.” They are a duo to keep your eyes and ears on.

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