Cheekface - Middle Spoon (2025)
BAND/ARTIST: Cheekface
- Title: Middle Spoon
- Year Of Release: 2025
- Label: Cheekface
- Genre: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
- Quality: mp3 320 kbps / flac lossless (tracks)
- Total Time: 00:33:02
- Total Size: 80 / 222 mb
- WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist
01. Living Lo-Fi
02. Flies
03. Wind Is Gone
04. Rude World
05. Military Gum
06. Art House
07. Growth Sux
08. Don't Dream
09. I Know What's Gonna Happen
10. Content Baby
11. Living Lo-Fi (Lo-Fi Version)
12. Hard Mode
I’ve made it no secret both in and out of The Wood Word that I’ve become a massive fan of Cheekface, the LA indie rock trio with the nickname “America’s Local Band,” over the past year. Their sparse but groovy instrumentals, catchy choruses and lyrics that alternate between being funny one-liners and anxious observations have caught me in a way that few, if any, bands have before. They’re not for everyone, and they’re very proud of that fact, but I still encourage people to listen to them and give them a try anyway. They’re also one of the only bands I regularly listen to that is currently active and releasing music: While I just missed the release cycle of their previous album, “It’s Sorted,” when I first started listening, I was front and center towards the hype around their newest release, “Middle Spoon,” which released on Feb. 25.
Seemingly very aware of the rut they could potentially get stuck in with their distinctive sound and lyrics, this fifth album of theirs sees them experimenting with new instruments, ideas and emotions. The album’s mood can best be described as upbeat and downbeat at the same time: The instrumentals and vocals maintain their positive, groovy sound, while the lyrics ping pong between their usual one-liners and observations, but much of their observations this time are more sad than anxious. This can be tracked to tragic real life events that were happening to band members Greg Katz and Mandy Tannen while writing the album. Cheekface became their outlet to cope and grieve with, and while “Middle Spoon” is most definitely not a depressing album, it certainly has moments where the mask of positivity starts to peel under the weight of the problems discussed.
The process of making the album included a marked effort to record real musicians playing real instruments instead of using samples. This results in many songs sounding orchestral, but never in a way that grows too big for the familiar combo of guitar, bass and drums. We hear a glistening harp at the beginning of “Content Baby,” violins in “I Know What’s Gonna Happen” and trombone in the ska-sounding “Don’t Dream,” but none of it ever overshadows the contributions of the trio of Cheekface. On the contrary, they’re at their strongest yet on “Middle Spoon.” Katz tears it up with his guitar and signature talk-singing vocals, Tannen’s bass and background vocals are fun and funky, and Mark “Echo” Edwards stays solid on the percussion, even when it involves clinking metal against metal.
Despite the more ambitious production, the band still stays off-kilter and, well, cheeky. They still veer between extended metaphors about indie movies and joking about how Tame Impala is, in fact, just one guy, as they do in “Art House.” There’s references to inside jokes, such as a hypothetical birthday cake the size of the Lincoln Memorial’s shoes in “Wind is Gone.” There’s even a full on speech about how cool the person next to you is in “Living Lofi,” the opener. But there’s also time for getting personal, or at least as personal as a band like Cheekface can get. Shuttling back and forth from your daily life to an urgent care is candidly mentioned in one song and life events forcing you to grow and change when you really, really don’t want to forms the album’s linchpin, “Growth Sux.” But even when they’re mentioning that, they’re asking if the light on the airplane can go out so they can use the bathroom soon after. Despite having every reason to, they never stay serious for too long, just enough to catch you off guard with their next one-liner.
01. Living Lo-Fi
02. Flies
03. Wind Is Gone
04. Rude World
05. Military Gum
06. Art House
07. Growth Sux
08. Don't Dream
09. I Know What's Gonna Happen
10. Content Baby
11. Living Lo-Fi (Lo-Fi Version)
12. Hard Mode
I’ve made it no secret both in and out of The Wood Word that I’ve become a massive fan of Cheekface, the LA indie rock trio with the nickname “America’s Local Band,” over the past year. Their sparse but groovy instrumentals, catchy choruses and lyrics that alternate between being funny one-liners and anxious observations have caught me in a way that few, if any, bands have before. They’re not for everyone, and they’re very proud of that fact, but I still encourage people to listen to them and give them a try anyway. They’re also one of the only bands I regularly listen to that is currently active and releasing music: While I just missed the release cycle of their previous album, “It’s Sorted,” when I first started listening, I was front and center towards the hype around their newest release, “Middle Spoon,” which released on Feb. 25.
Seemingly very aware of the rut they could potentially get stuck in with their distinctive sound and lyrics, this fifth album of theirs sees them experimenting with new instruments, ideas and emotions. The album’s mood can best be described as upbeat and downbeat at the same time: The instrumentals and vocals maintain their positive, groovy sound, while the lyrics ping pong between their usual one-liners and observations, but much of their observations this time are more sad than anxious. This can be tracked to tragic real life events that were happening to band members Greg Katz and Mandy Tannen while writing the album. Cheekface became their outlet to cope and grieve with, and while “Middle Spoon” is most definitely not a depressing album, it certainly has moments where the mask of positivity starts to peel under the weight of the problems discussed.
The process of making the album included a marked effort to record real musicians playing real instruments instead of using samples. This results in many songs sounding orchestral, but never in a way that grows too big for the familiar combo of guitar, bass and drums. We hear a glistening harp at the beginning of “Content Baby,” violins in “I Know What’s Gonna Happen” and trombone in the ska-sounding “Don’t Dream,” but none of it ever overshadows the contributions of the trio of Cheekface. On the contrary, they’re at their strongest yet on “Middle Spoon.” Katz tears it up with his guitar and signature talk-singing vocals, Tannen’s bass and background vocals are fun and funky, and Mark “Echo” Edwards stays solid on the percussion, even when it involves clinking metal against metal.
Despite the more ambitious production, the band still stays off-kilter and, well, cheeky. They still veer between extended metaphors about indie movies and joking about how Tame Impala is, in fact, just one guy, as they do in “Art House.” There’s references to inside jokes, such as a hypothetical birthday cake the size of the Lincoln Memorial’s shoes in “Wind is Gone.” There’s even a full on speech about how cool the person next to you is in “Living Lofi,” the opener. But there’s also time for getting personal, or at least as personal as a band like Cheekface can get. Shuttling back and forth from your daily life to an urgent care is candidly mentioned in one song and life events forcing you to grow and change when you really, really don’t want to forms the album’s linchpin, “Growth Sux.” But even when they’re mentioning that, they’re asking if the light on the airplane can go out so they can use the bathroom soon after. Despite having every reason to, they never stay serious for too long, just enough to catch you off guard with their next one-liner.
| Pop | Rock | Indie | FLAC / APE | Mp3
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