Derivative but catchy

With their select brand of hyper-hip and currently super-trendy influences (90‰’S INDIE ROCK AND ALL ITS SUBGENRES), it could be very easy for Cheatahs to get lost in the shimmery, reverbed, slightly distorted noise. On their debut album, Cheatahs, while they don‰’t exactly plot a path all their own, deliver a very solid collection of catchy and hard hitting tracks that don‰’t lack for hooks or punchy riffs. The shoegaze songbook was written long ago, and the boys in Cheatahs follow it to the letter, laying down reverb saturated guitar atmospheres while the frontman delivers his melodies (which are actually quite good) through lyrics that are honestly almost entirely inconsequential. The songs here are mostly able to keep it interesting through solid songwriting that occasionally deviates from the standard chorus-verse-chorus etc structure, though there are a few that you may forget that you‰’re listening to in the middle of. There‰’s nothing here ardent fans of Cheatahs‰’ influences haven‰’t heard before, and if that continues past their debut, Cheatahs could eventually run into an originality problem, but for now, the catchy songwriting should keep casual fans more than satisfied.

RIYL: My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Swervedriver, Cloud Nothings
Recommended Tracks: 2, 5, 7, 12