http://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2017/02/guppy_sq-0f206a75110d9dc3170c3ad5bb741f80c2764aec-s500-c85-1486480037-compressed.jpg
hi everyone this is my fav band in new york, like most bands in new york they recall the '90s but this is more specifically the belly/veruca salt axis if a little squeakier and more invariably bright
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_2UqssvaSc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGhFsNP_Rdk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-grIezjeaw
album out april 24
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 17:53 (seven years ago) link
<3
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 20:33 (seven years ago) link
as expected this thread will be authored by me and johnny fever, no features
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 21:28 (seven years ago) link
very catchy
this is what all bands in nyc sound like now?
― flopson, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 22:27 (seven years ago) link
j/k tho i feel like there's not an insignificant amount of '90s throwback rock bands here or in philly
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 22:42 (seven years ago) link
these guys have a particular ear for hooks though imo and prioritize the pop as much if not slightly more than the power which sets them apart
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 22:47 (seven years ago) link
i've been waiting for a thread where i could casually drop the names of letters to cleo and eve's plum and not feel unwelcome.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 22:57 (seven years ago) link
also, they seem like they should be from boston, not new york.
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 22:58 (seven years ago) link
I will admit and acknowledge that the throwbackness of Charly Bliss is what drew me to them initially, but Brad is right that they write exquisitely hooky songs that take the whole enterprise well above pastiche.
I've been trying to nail who exactly Eva's voice reminds me of. I'm still not there, but one day it will come to me.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 03:38 (seven years ago) link
kind of close vocally: paula kelley of the drop nineteens (speaking of boston):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaN1rMjH18E
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 8 February 2017 04:46 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKl8Gw68awY
song r0cks
― the raindrops and drop tops of lived, earned experience (BradNelson), Thursday, 2 March 2017 18:02 (seven years ago) link
is this album out yet?
― flopson, Thursday, 2 March 2017 18:04 (seven years ago) link
sorry, reread OP
my god, this is the new best band ever
― alpine static, Friday, 10 March 2017 18:45 (seven years ago) link
this is the closest 90s thing to charly bliss imo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glDFPjrolx0
― flopson, Friday, 10 March 2017 19:02 (seven years ago) link
yes! that dog. was what immediately came to mind for me, too. charly singer is a bit squeakier than Anna Waronker, but yes.
― alpine static, Tuesday, 14 March 2017 23:57 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, BradNelson is OTM that they bring the hooks. Thanks for pointing this band out
― Carlotta's Portrait (Ross), Thursday, 16 March 2017 04:12 (seven years ago) link
Charly Bliss are great. They've been around for awhile—"Love Me" was one of my favorite songs of 2014—I'm glad they're finally releasing an album (thankfully it's not loaded with old songs, like Bully's debut; "Ruby," "Percolator," and "Gatorade" are the only tracks already released). Does anyone else prefer the Audiotree Live version of "Percolator"? I love her yelp in the beginning.
― Handsome Bookor, Thursday, 16 March 2017 16:20 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elL0ktbhhnM
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 6 April 2017 16:04 (seven years ago) link
Great song and love the video for it. "Black Hole" is "Bad Box" on their audiotree live performance for those interested.
― Handsome Bookor, Friday, 7 April 2017 21:34 (seven years ago) link
this band seems great
― ciderpress, Tuesday, 11 April 2017 13:21 (seven years ago) link
Guppy streaming now at NPR.
http://www.npr.org/2017/04/13/523437524/first-listen-charly-bliss-guppy
― Handsome Bookor, Thursday, 13 April 2017 13:30 (seven years ago) link
omg
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 April 2017 13:31 (seven years ago) link
oh yeah this is precisely as good as i expected it to be
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:16 (seven years ago) link
yeah this totally rules, hooks for days
― devvvine, Thursday, 13 April 2017 14:31 (seven years ago) link
mentioning belly made me very curious.
― Nourry, Thursday, 13 April 2017 15:09 (seven years ago) link
This is everything I wanted it to be <333
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 15 April 2017 02:16 (seven years ago) link
unsurprisingly I love this album, but it is way more like kay hanley than tanya donelly, both in sound and songwriting
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 15 April 2017 03:00 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, there's nothing Belly-ish about this at all. I like it more than I ever liked Letter to Cleo, though.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 15 April 2017 03:29 (seven years ago) link
I'm not sure why they re-recorded "Ruby." I mean, it's about 99% the same, but the tiny differences are throwing me off.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 15 April 2017 03:33 (seven years ago) link
btw the answer to who her voice reminds you of is mz moxy, or at least it is for me
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 15 April 2017 03:42 (seven years ago) link
This album is a miracle
And yeah I hear Letters to Cleo here more than anyone else, but they never made an album this consistently good
― bunny slopes, Saturday, 15 April 2017 06:13 (seven years ago) link
"DQ" is so killer
― Handsome Bookor, Saturday, 15 April 2017 21:06 (seven years ago) link
Of the songs posted itt, I quite like "Glitter." The rest are somewhere between "yeah, this is catchy" and "but did I really need another Letters to Cleo record?" Still, I'll check out the album. Hoping "Glitter" isn't the only track with synths on it.
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Saturday, 15 April 2017 21:41 (seven years ago) link
it's not! did....did you not need another letters to cleo record?
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Saturday, 15 April 2017 23:36 (seven years ago) link
I liked LtC, but I haven't touched their 90s records in years.
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Saturday, 15 April 2017 23:44 (seven years ago) link
I mean we just DID get another letters to cleo record also
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Sunday, 16 April 2017 02:59 (seven years ago) link
and that's not counting Weaponize or either of the Palmdale EPs
yeah also that!
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Sunday, 16 April 2017 03:43 (seven years ago) link
Can't stop playing this album. Definitely my favorite of the year so far. Torn between "DQ" and "Glitter" as the best song on it.
― Handsome Bookor, Thursday, 20 April 2017 21:17 (seven years ago) link
i really like the rerecording of "ruby" and generally how much synth they layered over this thing
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 20 April 2017 21:24 (seven years ago) link
I came around to the new "Ruby"; took some getting used to. Was listening to the A Lot to Say and Soft Serve EPs today and realized just how much progress they've made with Guppy (really glad Eva takes lead vocals on all 10 tracks).
Also, she's quickly becoming one of my favorite lyricists. So funny, bizarre, and self-deprecative, but not in a classically emo tear-yourself-down kinda way. So many quotables on this record, but the opening lines of "DQ" are my favorite: "I laughed when your dog died/it's cruel, but it's true/take me back, kiss my soft side/does he love me most now that his dog is toast?"
― Handsome Bookor, Thursday, 20 April 2017 21:57 (seven years ago) link
katherine this is great! http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23085-guppy/
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Friday, 21 April 2017 11:51 (seven years ago) link
Doesn't sound like them particularly but something reminds me of The Blake Babies.
― yugi ex, Friday, 21 April 2017 18:38 (seven years ago) link
I made a post in this thread yesterday giving Katherine a hi-five for namedropping Stretch Princess in 2017, but it disappeared. I can't let that acknowledgement go unappreciated though, so I'm posting it again.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, 22 April 2017 12:46 (seven years ago) link
"jawbreaker soundtrack" could be swapped out for "she's all that soundtrack" or really just like any soundtrack between 1995-2005
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Sunday, 23 April 2017 19:11 (seven years ago) link
Love this album.
― Matt DC, Sunday, 23 April 2017 21:22 (seven years ago) link
this is great, they totally get that the best of this stuff was about hard rock as much as it was about hooks
― call all destroyer, Monday, 24 April 2017 14:59 (seven years ago) link
ennhhh, not especially
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Monday, 24 April 2017 18:01 (seven years ago) link
I want to like this so much. They kind of have "Erica band" written all over them and yet I find her voice so awful and grating that I can't listen to any of it beyound a couple seconds. :/
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Monday, 24 April 2017 20:27 (seven years ago) link
hey so just to check in we now all agree that the new one fucking owns right? good
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:16 (four years ago) link
Nah, still hate it.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 16:17 (four years ago) link
what's the irish phrase? git tae fuck?
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:17 (four years ago) link
I've made peace with the fact they don't owe me another album that hits me the way Guppy did, so y'all enjoy.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 16:19 (four years ago) link
I'm a sucker for albums about bad relationships tbqh
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:20 (four years ago) link
I can't fault them for changing things up a bit, because they're still exceedingly competent about it. It's just not my particular bag. otoh the other big disappointment I had this year (Marina's album) comes down entirely to the fact she's become incredibly timid in her musical expression and the result is devoid of personality and risk. Charly Bliss didn't get shy. They just got more polished.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 16:25 (four years ago) link
Not a day goes by that "Capacity" isn't playing in my head at some point. And also usually "Camera."
― I don't get wet because I am tall and thin and I am afraid of people (Eliza D.), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:25 (four years ago) link
"Under You" gets me right in the pit of my self-abnegating heart
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:27 (four years ago) link
I'm pretty far removed from feeling relationship shit deeply at this point (I haven't so much as dated since 2012), so nothing about love and loss hooks me to the degree it might have in the past.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 16:36 (four years ago) link
interesting -- not that the songs aren't about that but I wouldn't call charly bliss's core appeal their being about deep relationship shit
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:55 (four years ago) link
You're right. Not saying they really go spelunking into the deep, but silby's apparently taking that away from listens to the album.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 16:57 (four years ago) link
did I say deep?
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 16:58 (four years ago) link
"pit of my self-abnegating heart" insinuated as much. Ignore me, though!
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 17:01 (four years ago) link
The whole of this exchange is very low stakes for me, and I'm really just basing all my objections on the synths lol
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 17:03 (four years ago) link
I mean I think it's high-impact, like cf. the two most romantic things I've seen in the movies lately are Max giving blood to Furiosa and the consensual mushroom poisoning in Phantom Thread if that gives you a sense of my brain I don't know if I think it's deep
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 17:08 (four years ago) link
the synths are good they're like woomwoomwoom and then on other songs the guitars are like grangrangrang
I normally don't post on ILM lol but something like one album per year totally wrecks me and this year it's this one so I wanna yell about it
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 17:09 (four years ago) link
Go off! I'm glad people still have that energy. I don't anymore, even if I'm totally into something. I've only posted a couple times on the Meernaa thread, and that's my clear 2019 fave.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 2 August 2019 17:16 (four years ago) link
oh I meant, the core appeal seems to me like the hooks, where basically anything could be sung over them and it'd still be great; the lyrics are a bonus
― like, I’m eating an elephant head (katherine), Friday, 2 August 2019 20:39 (four years ago) link
find it impossible to think of the lyrics as a "bonus" in an album like this but the world is full of different kinds of people and that's great
― president of deluded fruitcakes anonymous (silby), Friday, 2 August 2019 20:57 (four years ago) link
at first i was indifferent, but this is a grower it seems
― nostormo, Saturday, 3 August 2019 08:17 (four years ago) link
Saw 'em in Sydney a couple of weeks back, and they were great. Feel like the newer songs have more of a kick live with a higher tempo and less emphasis on the synths. They really just sounded more like Guppy songs, and for the better. Anyway, they had great energy and seemed like they were having lots of fun.
Mr. Brightside cover was cool.
― triggercut, Saturday, 3 August 2019 09:23 (four years ago) link
I have to admit that I've warmed up to it (some more) in the last months. Now it's... fine.But yes, as Johnny Fever said, they don't owe me a Guppy 2 and that's perfectly okay.By now I'm just glad that this seems to be enjoyed by a lot of people.
― fragglerock, Sunday, 4 August 2019 13:08 (four years ago) link
new ep! https://charlybliss.bandcamp.com/album/supermoon
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 30 October 2019 14:33 (four years ago) link
lovely news! still going back to young enough pretty regularly
― devvvine, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 14:34 (four years ago) link
and to drop it on a rare occasion i can listen at work, so thoughtful!
― devvvine, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 14:35 (four years ago) link
fans of guppy who couldn't get down with the new lp: idk, seems like this is for you
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 30 October 2019 14:38 (four years ago) link
how do they write so many good songs
was mid supermoon and came to post the same thing
― devvvine, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 14:41 (four years ago) link
Niiiice!
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 16:15 (four years ago) link
Holy shit @ "Threat." I'm constantly wrestling with whether or not I was that guy in my youth, and I don't think I was to that degree, but I feel this in my bones.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 16:33 (four years ago) link
This new E.P sounds somewhat like a bunch of Demos. Everything is quite basic, thin and...boring :(
― nostormo, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 18:53 (four years ago) link
"heaven" giving me breeders vibes.
― fact checking cuz, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 19:21 (four years ago) link
these songs are all pretty good except for "supermoon"
― ufo, Wednesday, 30 October 2019 20:29 (four years ago) link
ended their set tonight with a dancing on my own cover
― devvvine, Wednesday, 6 November 2019 23:11 (four years ago) link
best band in the world
― devvvine, Wednesday, November 6, 2019 3:11 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
inject it into my veins
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Thursday, 7 November 2019 03:36 (four years ago) link
and yeah, the new EP is so-so but Supermoon and Heaven are great
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Thursday, 7 November 2019 03:37 (four years ago) link
And when the sidewalk ripped up our frozen feetI can't protect you now if I couldn't save you thenYou were still just a kidYou're a beautiful boyCrushing cigarettes just to prove a point
― Indexed, Wednesday, 19 May 2021 15:00 (two years ago) link
Young Enough is such a great album.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 19 May 2021 15:03 (two years ago) link
new music tomorrow, yippee skippee!
― soup of magpies (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 21 June 2023 00:28 (ten months ago) link
Great news. I saw them in April and they said the album was finished. The new material sounded really good.
― kitchen person, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 01:46 (ten months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzoS0wt7D-U
it's quite a pop move, not bad but doesn't really play to their strengths either
― ufo, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 06:40 (ten months ago) link
Hard no
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, 21 June 2023 11:37 (ten months ago) link
feel like i've heard this song 50 times before, and that's just in ILX EOY singles polls
― imago, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 11:59 (ten months ago) link
don't think it's good enough to make the eoy poll really
― ufo, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 12:30 (ten months ago) link
you just wait lol
i'm talking about its slightly-superior forebears mind
― imago, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 12:33 (ten months ago) link
Hmm yeah, I don't think they played this one when I saw them. It's not great. The other songs sounded so much better, especially the emo ballad.
― kitchen person, Wednesday, 21 June 2023 14:12 (ten months ago) link
jfc why are they so terrible now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuM5eyjXtg
― ⓓⓡ (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 26 October 2023 15:17 (five months ago) link
Yeah I don't like the way they've gone with these post- Young Enough tracks. To me that one was the perfect middle ground between a glossy slick sound and 4 people just playing in a room. The sonic whiz-bang cluttered production style is not doing them any favors.
― o. nate, Thursday, 26 October 2023 22:32 (five months ago) link