Dave Chamberlain

Throughout three years, the Cherry Valence earned a reputation for a blistering live show: rotating drummers--sometimes two at a time--multiple lead singers and a sound mixing the best of garage with Southern rock. Before the band ever recorded even a single, the North Carolina-based quintet toured for two years, crisscrossing the country six times before signing to Estrus Records.

"By the fifth time," says guitarist Cheetie Kumar, "there were parts of [touring] that were a little bit frustrating, but it didn't wear us down. The actual touring, getting in the van and doing the thing daily, playing every night, it only makes you better, and it's always fun. Even if it's a shitty night, there's gonna be a moment that you're happy you're doing it. It wasn't exhausting on that end, and it got a little bit discouraging. But we really wanted to make a record, and it wasn't like somebody was gonna put out our record because they psychically heard about us." Unfortunately, the band's hard work on the road did not pay off when they finally hit the studio. In 1999, the Cherry Valence released its eponymous debut to a collective shrug--though the live show was nuclear, in the end the record was just another Estrus record.

But with the release of the band's second record, "Riffin'," the Cherry Valence captured its live octane in the studio. Employing a louder, wider sound and combining the best of garage, grunge, stoner and Southern rock, the growth between records isn't just tangible, it's astonishing. Ten songs, thirty minutes, soulful vocals, catchy as hell and not a track worth tossing.

Some of the credit goes to Tim Green, member of the Fucking Champs, who recorded "Riffin'" at his Louder Studio in San Francisco. "His recording style," says Kumar, "is really focused. And we toured with the Champs so much, he knows what we're about. Plus, we have a lot of the same records, so we can make stupid jokes about songs we all know. Basically, we're on the same page."

Instead of constantly pushing the tempo, Green and the Cherry Valence found a chugging groove, a cadence that lets the musicians riff along at an almost leisurely pace. "We learned a lot about how to record from the mistakes we made on the first [record]," explains Kumar. "Whereas on the first record, we just played the songs the way we do live, the second time around we really thought about how to record them.

"[On a record] the songs have to be catchy, the riffs memorable," says Cheetie. "On a good rock record, everything matches each other in some way. Everything has to fuel everything else."

And the tempo shift? "I think if we recorded the first record now, some of the songs would have a little more swing to them. We were just so excited at the time, we played everything really fast because we were afraid of sounding boring. Which, I guess means we're getting old"--she pauses to laugh--"because we don't equate slowness with boring."

Don't think the Cherry Valence is destined for the elevator, because "Riffin'" brings a mountain of virtually incomparable rock. Even when you think you detect a nugget of another band, they switch it up. For fifty seconds, the song "Get Wild Tonight" sounds like a typical beer-guzzling Motorhead song. Just as you're ready to dismiss it as biker thrash, CV tears into the most kick-ass Kurt Cobain riff you've heard since, well, Kurt Cobain, and the song ends. It's indicative of every track--when you're looking up, CV hits you low. Look left, you'll get plowed from the right. Throughout seventy spins I've been trying to compare "Riffin'" to another record, and only Nirvana's "Bleach" comes to mind. Not that the Cherry Valence sounds anything like Nirvana, but every time you listen you like it more, and like "Bleach," it's clear that this is just the beginning.

Seldom is a record too aptly titled. But "Riffin'" says exactly what it is--a ten-song riff-built rock record. "The word is an older jazz word," she explains. "People would use it when they were going off on an idea, sort of free-styling it, but not really having a specific agenda. And then it's just the riffs: the drummers have riffs, the guitar players have riffs, the bass player riffs, the vocals are riffin. And that's really it. When we sit in the van, everybody's air-guitaring at some point. It's all about the riffs."

This simple explanation says everything that can be said about why this record equals what the band does on stage. Some things are just better seen, or heard, than said. "There's something imperceptible that makes you [the audience] not able to walk away and get that next beer or go take a leak, and you're not sure why," Kumar says in describing any great live show. "They just have the ghost in back, and you can't wait to see what they do next--even if it's the same thing for thirty minutes. And it's not about antics and summersaults, it's just like you forget where you are. I'm not sure what makes that happen, but you know it when you see it."

The Cherry Valence plays August 21 at the Empty Bottle, 1035 North Western, (773)276-3600. Fellow Estrus brethren Federation X and local garage punks the Dishes open.

(2002-08-14)

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