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Dec 02, 2019 Web Exclusive By Christopher Thiessen

Earlier this year, Charly Bliss’ sophomore record Young Enough delivered a polished, near-perfect makeover of the sweet and rowdy power pop Eva Hendricks and co. debuted just two years ago. Hendricks’ saccharine vocals and Spencer Fox’s grizzly, garage-y guitars meld into their signature bubblegum grunge stylings as they continually excel with a self-awareness and knowledge of their craft uncommon among newer groups. Their newest release, an EP titled Supermoon, consists of songs written for, though discarded from, Young Enough. But the band’s five new tracks sound nothing like album rejects.

Supermoon doesn’t feature slow-buidling, perfectly crafted anthems like “Blown to Bits” or “Young Enough.” Instead, the EP allows Charly Bliss to return to their rawest form of garage rock where thumping bass lines, dynamic guitars, and danceable drum beats propel Hendricks’ fake-happy vocals forward. Opener “Feed” is the spiritual cousin of Young Enough single “Capacity,” where Hendricks discovers her own limits and crowd-pleasing tendencies, lamenting, “I would feed the whole world if I could.”

Charly Bliss has always been great at expressing the anxiety of being a twentysomething in a world of uncertainties (“DQ”), an anxiety that Hendricks often expresses by inflating life’s minutiae into fiery frustrations. “I didn’t even see the supermoon,” she complains on the title track where she’s too busy bickering with a significant other to experience the world’s beauty.

On the EP’s final two tracks, Hendricks bites back on her unsatisfying relationship, admitting on “Slingshot,” “It’s easy to love you from farther away.” Again, on the unabashedly pop-punk closer “Threat” she sings, “I’d rather be dead than have it be true/That no one could ever love me more than you.”

Supermoon is a soundtrack to moving on, to learning one’s own shortcomings and tendencies well enough to take steps away from unhealthy patterns and toward taking better care of oneself. There aren’t any giant anthems like on Charly Bliss’ previous full-length, but nonetheless, the EP is a wonderful companion piece with staying power in its own right. Their consistent songwriting and raw zeal for rock & roll is a delight. If this were still 2007, Charly Bliss would be a household name by now. (www.charlybliss.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10