Words by Ed King / Pic courtesy of Liquid Cheeks
On Monday 13th August Liquid Cheeks release their second single – ‘Serendipity’. Available to stream for free though Spotify, click here to listen.
Liquid Cheeks is name you’ll read on our pages again in the coming weeks, as they will be supporting The Taboo Club at our next live music showcase – at The Victoria on Saturday 29th September. And it’s a name you should remember, as the fledgling project from Ben Ollis Gibbs and Greg Clarke is one of the most promising new musical corners of the Midlands this year.
Releasing a series of introductory singles, Liquid Cheeks launched themselves with ‘He’s a Flower’ in July – a guitar twanging stab at machismo, delivered through gritted teeth and absurd amounts of swagger, burrowing into your brain like a good earworm should. It was a solid start for the new band from two core members of the erstwhile Byron Hare – grabbing us by enough short and curlies to book them for our September showcase, where they will play their debut live set as Liquid Cheeks. Something we’re more than a little excited about. But have you got any more material I could listen to? Yeah, sure, we’ll send it over… ‘Serendipity’ is being released in August.
Remember the first time you heard Foals, or The XX. Or any band who manage to deliver something with that ineffable… whatever it is. That’s Liquid Cheeks. Self-described as ‘electro garage’, their sophomore single, ‘Serendipity’, is a masterclass in effective restraint – opening with an almost twee keyboard riff from Ben Ollis Gibbs, before a gut punch guitar and Greg Clarke’s vocals hook you into the heart of this track within seconds.
This formula stays true until a little six string tweak at around the two minute mark, giving slightly a tougher middle eight, before bringing it back with a sprinkle of the aforementioned keys and the repeated chorus – a simple two line signature that had me singing it around my kitchen after the second play. But ‘Serendipity’ is solid song writing to it’s core – a track that, just, simply, works. And there’s a deep confidence to it all, with a simple chord progression underpinning a major to minor melody that makes me feel like I’m living through the Drive soundtrack. Although not the lift scene.
Liquid Cheeks seem quite laid back about the whole thing too, which is probably where their song writing gets its confidence and strength. I guess when you’ve been working within an ensemble for a while then move into a more self-governed and directed arena, you can take a welcome deep breath.
But with two strong singles on the table and a cluster making their way through the production process, I am anything but relaxed about it all. Birmingham is due another portfolio to be proud of with Liquid Cheeks looking like a solid part of any new attention the Midlands may get. And if there’s an album of this standard in the offing… Jesus, somebody better make up a new acronym because these boys came to play.
On Monday 13th August Liquid Cheeks release their latest single, ‘Serendipity’, through Default Man Records – available to stream for free through Spotify, click here.
For more on Liquid Cheeks, visit www.facebook.com/liquidcheeks
Liquid Cheeks will be supporting The Taboo Club at The Victoria on Saturday 29th September, as part of the next Birmingham Review live music showcase. Joining them on the bill will also be Stoke’s melodic electro four piece, Lilac Noise – playing their debut Birmingham gig. For direct event information, including links to online ticket sales, click here.
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