#thecheek

The Cheek – Lovers’ Quarrel

Everyone has a favourite band that should have made it but never quite did. Maybe they arrived at the wrong time or were cut down in their prime by tragedy. Perhaps they were signed to a record label that went under or split in a tumult of acrimony after the singer slept with the drummer’s mum.

Throwing the question to Twitter unveiled a diverse range of bands people missed and no two answers the same, although Reuben and Easyworld were two of the first that came to mind for me.

But what if there could be a second bite at the cherry? The Lost Music Club think there should be; Liam Nolan from the always intriguing 1p Album Club and Jack Clothier from the excellent Alcopop! Records have made it their mission to unearth forgotten, unreleased records and drag them blinking into the daylight.

They released the excellent misplaced debut of Britpop casualties Speedy earlier this year. Now they’ve dipped another toe into the past (albeit only five years back) to give The Cheek a second chance – a band who fell at the start of this uncertain musical decade.

Emerging from Woodbridge, Suffolk, the five-piece released a pair of singles and an EP under the ungainly name Cheeky Cheeky and The Nosebleeds. Signed by the behemoth A&M Records while still in their teens, they recorded Lovers’ Quarrel, releasing two singles, Hung Up and Just One Night.

Alas, with the album ready to go in 2010, A&M scaled back their roster as they tried to get used to a shifting musical landscape.

The band disappeared, yet now Lovers’ Quarrel has finally got its release.

Lovers’ Quarrel – the 2014 verdict

Do Nothing opens the record with disco hi-hats and filthy dance-floor bass. It sets the tone for the record: immensely catchy but with ambiguous lyrics (including some “la la la la las” in the chorus), that mean it ends before you ever really get a handle on it.

The nine songs that follow manage to be gripping and energetic, yet with barely a trace of aggression or darkness. The songs fly by with more of a glam stomp than a punk flurry, and plenty of very danceable moments.

The reference points aren’t easy to spot, but I’m going to point to a wee hint of 90s Britpop – more specifically, the disco down sound of Shed Seven.

The record’s highlight, Whole World, has an impatient thrust to it. Its confidence could only have come from a very young band, sounding sure of itself in tone and lyrics: “I’m just a boy and you’re the whole world”.

If leaving the listener wanting more is the litmus test of a great pop song, it passes comfortably: the first time I heard it, I ended up playing it another half dozen times, making me late for work. Thanks for that, The Cheek.

Elsewhere, singer Rory Cottam’s everyman vocals are easy to sing along to without getting too laddish. If you heard Just One Night or Find Her Tonight on the radio, you might not remember Cottam’s voice, but the choruses would stick with you

Hung Up gives especially good chorus, with a Sham 69-esque terrace chant in its bellow of “We’re gonna be restless tonight”.

My Biggest Mistake throws up the most leftfield moment of the record: from out of nowhere, [spoiler alert] a surprise saxophone solo! Allegedly it’s played by Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay, according to, er, Wikipedia; either way, it sounds great and changes the song’s pace nicely.

The album ends with a moment of accidental poignancy in Goodnight, Goodnight. Its mentions of “when the luck runs out” seem prescient considering what happened to the band next.

Some final thoughts

I was listening to the record for the third time in a row on a long lunchtime walk when What Goes On looped round again. It’s a muted song that brings something different to the rest, giving the record some light and shade.

Yet I’d heard the song several times already and couldn’t have told you much about it. Their strongest songs are the ones with swagger and enthusiasm; these have a breathless momentum, powering through to the end with indecent haste.

This means the record can easily pass you by, feeling like it’s over as quickly as it began. It’s possible that this is why they got lost in 2010, among a glut of countless (mostly inferior) indie bands, while guitar music was being written off as irrelevant.

The ones who were successful generally had a novelty single, an appearance on The Inbetweeners’ soundtrack or a frontman keen on jabbering good copy at the music press.

With single releases and the music press (as well as the record label that let them down) less relevant now, perhaps the time is right for a second go.

Despite the record’s brevity, it’s far from being throwaway – it’s infectious enough to demand repeat listens, with some outstanding songs: Whole World, My Biggest Mistake and Hung Up in particular.

The closest album to it this year is the excellent Catfish and the Bottlemen debut, which has done rather well, so here’s to hoping The Cheek can find the ears of some of their fans.

Even if it doesn’t lead to fame and world tours, this is a record that deserves to be released; thanks, then, to The Lost Music Club for making it happen – score one for the good guys!

You can buy Lovers’ Quarrel (and Speedy’s album too) from The Lost Music Club’s store.