Tonight, Cleveland has the distinct honor of hosting the album release for bombastic Kent two-piece, Cherry Cola Champions at local indie rock favorite the Grog Shop. The dynamic duo first caught our attention when they performed at Weapons of Mass Creation festival in Cleveland, OH earlier this year.
Months later, their much-anticipated LP is ready to greet your ears after being recorded and produced by Tim Gerak at Mammoth Cave studio in Denver and pressed at Cleveland’s own Gotta Groove Records in three colors, including cherry cola red.
Joining the band will be four other regional acts you should cock your ears toward—Annabel, The Marine Electric, Wake Island, and Pomegranates. Annabel is a four-piece that also hails from Kent. Their music is a straight-forward layering of guitars, drums, and vocals delivered in true punk-rock fashion. The Marine Electric is a four-piece that claims its members are the four nicest guys you’ll meet. They’re straight out of Brooklyn and theirs is a sound that’s an edgier brand of punk, filled with guitar solos and gritty vocals over hard-hitting drums.
Pomegranates are definitely the evening’s sweethearts. Adorned in all white they’ll fill your ears with ethereal music that is woven by the four-piece through their nuanced usage of keyboard, two pastel guitars, a black bass, and drums.Vocals in this band show no fear embracing their delicate side as they are often found in the stratosphere with comfortable falsettos from singers, Isaac Karns and Joey Cook.
Don’t rest on their softness too much however, because just when you’re about to be lulled, these Cincinnati boys will throw you for a loop with screams, delivering a rousing speech, or just moving about the stage. Wake Island, formerly Intensive Care, is a four-piece based out of Montreal that boasts members from Lebanon, the United States, and Canada. The quartet delivers a sound that is equal parts electronic and spacey, or hard-hitting and direct.
With your $7 admission to tonight’s show you’ll receive a discount on the record. There’s no reason to go home empty-handed, and you really ought to get this album while it’s hot because it’s going to go fast. Head on out to the Grog and give these guys some high fives. They’ve worked really hard to self-release this album, and you won’t regret being at this show.
Lace up those Chuck Taylors; we’ll see you tonight, kid.
