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Feb 01, 2024 Web Exclusive By Mark Moody

Come gather round children and I’ll tell you a tale of a band they called Cheekface. America loved them well. Borrowing a melody from Woody Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd,” or some other ancient folk tune, Cheekface’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” and all of It’s Sorted for that matter, would no doubt find favor in the baby faced gangster’s collection of 78s. Four albums in, the Greg Katz led trio take more than a handful of swipes at late stage capitalism while still letting nothing get in the way of a well-timed joke. The Floyd of old robbed banks and burned up common folks mortgages while he was at. Short on heroes at the moment, “Don’t Stop Believing” bemoans an era where “what lives on is the destruction caused by market economics.” But as grim as that sounds, every other track on It’s Sorted comes at you like a sonic invitation to boogie like you’ve never ever boogied before.

As enjoyable as the band’s prior albums have been, It’s Sorted finds the Los Angeles-based trio at peak cheek. Look no further than the funk breakdown on “I Am Continuing to Do My Thing,” which contains the rhyme of the year to come—pairing up the Badger State with America’s most beloved wrestler turned Hollywood star. That song rolls right into the chicken picking notes of “Grad School,” which is punctuated with an extended percussion jam, trumpet solos, and a schoolyard whistle to boot. And to close out a more than solid three-song run, you get album highlight “Life in a Bag,” with Katz singing about Heaven being nothing more than “wiggly air” over a slinky rhythm.

Katz and his partners in crime (Amanda Tannen on bass/vocals, Mark Edwards on drums) sound their tightest and most pointed yet. Though much of It’s Sorted contends with the uncertainties of the day, Katz isn’t afraid to get downright declarative when it’s warranted. “Success is cringe!” Katz let’s us know on the opening “The Fringe,” which celebrates art on the margins. While “we got it on lock” is the phrase that pays on the anti-capitalist “Life in a Bag,” where Katz does ironically reveal “we got a raise and a promotion at our job.” Later standout, “Largest Muscle,” borrows a mid-’80s INXS intro before launching into the spongiest song on offer here. Perhaps appropriate for an exploration of the pliable parts of our body.

Singing along to lyrics about the dangers of “unifying theories” (“Largest Muscle”) and a “reversion to the mean” (“There Were Changes in the Hardcore Scene”) have never been this much geeky fun. And with a nod to modernity, extolling the virtues of living life on your neighbor’s Blink cameras (“Popular 2”) and having all your PII out on the dark web (“Grad School”) make such matters seem something not to worry too much about. In fact, the whole affair has the air of Nero fiddling while Rome is burning if you pay attention to the lyrics. But who needs those types of headaches, when you can just enjoy yourself and remain blissfully unaware of the societal decay around us. As long as there are words left to rhyme with dude (here you get “multitudes” on “Life in a Bag”), there will always be a Cheekface. That’s a bit of verisimilitude for you, dude! (www.cheekface.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 8.5/10