Why You Absolutely Need to See Cherry Glazerr Live

One of the worst things you can do is find out how old your favorite artists were when they made their mark on the world. Finding out Orson Welles was just 25 when he made Citizen Kane is a great way to feel terrible about your own existence. Most of us are still busy gazing into the deepest recesses of our navels by the time we hit our mid-20s; few folks get it together enough to drop bombs on the world the way people like Orson did. Or Clementine Creevy, who has the magnificent Mr. Welles beat: She released her first album before graduating high school.

Creevy is the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist for Cherry Glazerr. A spiky garage band, Cherry Glazerr can effortlessly shift gears from sweet poppy tunes about grilled cheese sandwiches to fierce, proto-metal songs that stomp all over your eardrums. Creevy started posting tracks on Soundcloud while she was still in high school. Those tracks caught the attention of Burger Records co-founder Sean Bohrman, who released the tracks in 2013. Following the release of Papa Cremp, that first Burger Records tape, Creevy hooked up with Hannah Uribe and Sean Redman, forming the original Cherry Glazerr trio.

The band released a full-length album, Haxel Princess, on Burger Records in 2014. The record was a major step forward, showcasing a suite of songs that were confident and fun, packed with sugar-rush melodies and hooks that hit you right away. “You are an alien princess, baby,” Creevy sang on All My Friends — she may as well have been singing about herself.

Creevy occupied an unusual position: She was someone who was signed to a boutique underground label and was also being courted by Saint Laurent as a model (the band’s Had Ten Dollarz single would later soundtrack the fashion label’s 2014 fall runway show). Her work with Saint Laurent led her to a recurring role on the show Transparent, where she played the frontwoman for fictional band Glitterish. Not a lot of people can lay claim to being the frontwoman for their own band while also playing one on TV before they’re old enough to legally drink.

In the years that have passed since Haxel Princess, the band has undergone quite a few changes. Uribe and Redman left the band and were replaced by Sasami Ashworth and Tabor Allen. The band also decided to release their new album on a different label, so they inked a deal with Secretly Canadian. The biggest change, though, can be heard in the band’s sound.

Cherry Glazerr’s new album Apocalipstick is a self-assured, propulsive, and thunderous album. It may also be the year’s best straight-up rock album. Evolving from their garage band roots, Cherry Glazerr still uses Creevy’s voice the same way shoegaze bands treat their female vocalists: Her vocals are often flat, soft, and girlish. But the music behind her has only gotten louder, fuzzier, and more aggressive, making it sound like Creevy and her bandmates have been on a steady diet of Black Sabbath and Kyuss records.

While the band’s sound has become totally riff-tastic, they haven’t turned their backs on their love of food or the goofy sense of humor that’s defined so much of their work. Songs like Trash People and Humble Pro, with their odes to people who don’t change their underwear and bake Tapatio into their pizzas, carry on their tradition of celebrating junk food and junk people. Their music videos also showcase their goofball sensibilities — the video for Nuclear Bomb features Creevy making out with her guitar, taking it out for a walk in the park (holding its strap the way you’d hold a lover’s hand), and getting into a threesome in bed with the guitar and a smiling drum.

Cherry Glazerr are touring the country right now in support of Apocalipstick. Seeing a band like them coming into their own, tapping into their full power, makes them an absolute must-see live. Just try not to think about how young they are, or you'll be seriously regretting all that time you spent in college doing nothing but playing Dark Souls II.

Cherry Glazerr will be performing with Lala Lala & Ian Sweet on Wednesday, April 5, at Valley Bar in downtown Phoenix.