By: Artemis Thomas-Hansard
Clementine Creevy, the just-turned-17-year-old front woman of Cherry Glazerr, is hurriedly typing an assignment to her teacher on her phone. She wishes she had brought her backpack to the show, but didn't think she'd have time to study. (Her local garage-rock band is opening for well-regarded Hardly Art act Hunx and His Punx.) Meanwhile, band mate Hannah Uribe, 16, has been busy studying for the SAT in between attending class and practicing drums. Bassist Sean Redman, 22, is the only one who can buy a beer. Yet these young rockers are on the verge of breaking through.
In 2012, you might have found Creevy sitting in her bedroom, listening to Tobacco and Syd Barrett and writing songs about her cat and the “pizza monster” under her bed. Back then, she recorded under the name Clembutt, and her standout demos included “Teenage Girl,” which captures adolescent angst beneath hazy guitar riffs and jingle bells (Rookie Magazine liked it), and “Grilled Cheese,” the song that caught Redman's attention when the two met at a summer workshop at the Musicians Institute of Hollywood.
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Creevy continued recording with an amorphous band of musician friends, and her original songs were transformed into Papa Cremp, a demo that Burger Records released on cassette in 2013 after co-founder Sean Bohrman discovered it on Clembutt's SoundCloud. The band was formed, and they took their name from NPR reporter Chery Glaser.
These days you still might find Cherry Glazerr playing the Smell and at house parties; what's odd is that said house parties feature parents waiting outside to pick up their kids afterward. (The parents tend to be fans, too–especially the dads.) Meanwhile, they're kinda blowing up; the band most recently played the El Rey with punk icons Redd Kross and Mikal Cronin, and also shared a lineup with Bleached and the Black Lips at Jubilee Festival last summer. They also played at 2013's Burgerama festival (they're on the bill this year, too), where they captured the attention of fashion icon Hedi Slimane.
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Slimane, creative director for Yves Saint Laurent, reached out to Creevy and Uribe while the two were traveling in London and asked them to play a fashion show after-party in Paris–a dream come true for a couple of teenage girls. “Teenage Girl” currently holds a place on the Saint Laurent home page, and the darkly lulling “Trick or Treat Dancefloor” is featured in the fashion label's most recent ad campaign. The song was also included in season 2 of the CW network's Arrows.
But despite all this, they still have to get their homework in on time; they still watch what they say in interviews because their parents will probably read them; and venues have tried to pay them in pizza.
“It's the hardest I've ever tried,” says Uribe of the balancing act. (She's planning to go to college.)
This week, they return to Santa Ana for a gig at the Constellation Room on the heels of their new LP, Haxel Princess, out on Burger Records. It's clear that these kids are not messing around.
Cherry Glazerr perform at the Constellation Room at the Observatory, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, (714) 957-0600; www.observatoryoc.com. Sat., 8 p.m. $8. All ages.
See also
10 Punk Albums to Listen to Before You Die
10 Goriest Album Covers
10 Most Satanic Metal Bands
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