While Debbie Harry is Blondie for some, is Clementine Creevy Cherry Glazerr? She is for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that she plays most everything here on the new album. I Don't Want You Anymore, out on Friday via Secretly Canadian, is a brash showcase for Creevy's talents, and a declaration of intent for the future sound of this act.
"Bad Habit" pops and churns with a sense of fun, but the harder "Touched You With My Chaos" is more exciting for those of us who like our guitars loud and fuzzy. Clementine pours herself into this one, and there's a sort of emo-ish vibe here, though the sound is more varied than that term would usually allow for. Elsewhere, the roiling "Sugar" is even better, a fiery riff on shoegaze styles, while "Eat You Like a Pill" adds a rhythmic hook of some power to that template. The Liz Phair-ish "Wild Times" is radio-friendly but still smart, and it stands as a good distillation of this record's many charms.
All throughout I Don't Want You Anymore runs a stubborn refusal of an artist to allow things to be too accessible. And I sort of dig Creevy for that. Just when things seem catchy, or fairly close to alt-rock conventions, Clementine will muddy up the mix, growl the vocals, or let her guitar drown out all else in the song. This is still accessible stuff, but it's deliberately rough around the edges. In some ways I Don't Want You Anymore reminds me of records like Live Through This and Whip-Smart. Creevy knows what she's doing, and just how close to skirt to the mainstream.
I Don't Want You Anymore by Cherry Glazerr is out on Friday via Secretly Canadian.
[Photo: Maddy Rotman]