I’m pretty late to the PWR BTTM party since I only found out about them this past week, but I’m so glad I did. PWR BTTM is the queer garage punk band you’ve been looking for. The duo consists of guitarist Ben Hopkins and drummer Liv Bruce who met while at Bard College in upstate New York. Together they have been making music for the young, the queer, the other, and the confused since 2013.

In 2015 they released their first LP called Ugly Cherries, a conglomeration of messy, grungy songs that introduce their style so well. Almost all of the songs on the album are short and quick. The first song, “Short-Lived Nightmare” is a simple, one minute intro to the duo as two queer punks just making music in their garage.

One of their more popular songs is “I Wanna Boi,” a stomping anthem where Bruce recites a list of wants from a potential boyfriend. “I want a boy who think it’s sexy when my lipstick bleeds/ I want a boy who can go all night without stopping/ I want a boy who knows exactly what he needs”. Bruce belts at the guitar leads to a distorted, melodic solo. This, like much of PWR BTTM’s music, is funny, but it’s still not a joke.

The title track, “Ugly Cherries”, continues some of that humor as well as having some rad guitar licks. It also gender bends pronouns throughout, making the subject of the song almost unidentifiable. This confusion and struggle themes are related even more in “Serving Goffman”. “I found out people aren’t that mean/But it feels like they’re still laughing at me/When they’re just saying hello”, sings Bruce in this ode to making a fool of oneself.

The top tracks on the album for me are “West Texas” and “1994”. “West Texas” has a little bit of a more produced and organized feel than most of the other songs. The guitar has interesting layers and the angsty lyrics fit perfectly with the thumping drums. “1994” has Bruce’s vocals floating through “oohs” and singing of his first love. The guitar takes off as well, jumping into a killer solo.

On the more mellow side, there is “C U Around”. This song had Bruce singing alone with Hopkins playing acoustic. Bruce laments about his fear of talking to the boy he may have hurt. It’s a somber, almost cutesy tune that is a nice palate cleanser in the album.

I’m a huge fan of PWR BTTM now. I think they don’t take themselves too seriously and just make the music they want to make. The queer twist definitely makes it more relatable as well. I would highly recommend checking them out. They will be playing at the Lost Lake Lounge on July 7 in Denver, so since I’m in NYC for the summer I can’t see them, but you all should.

Ugly Cherries Album Cover: https://pwrbttm.bandcamp.com/

https://play.spotify.com/user/universityofdenverclarion/playlist/0mKcIRpJzqflm7cR4iTmU7