Written by Brandon George
Released last Friday, Pom-Pom Squad’s debut album, “Death of a Cheerleader'' is a brilliant supernova of doom-glam and grunge. Over the course of just a half hour, the band fillet the perceptions of what makes a record coherent by combining a bevvy of sounds-all familiar to differing genres-to create a holistic listening experience that is equal parts captivating and haunting.
The marketing lead-up to the album has been astounding. The consistent aesthetic of photo shoots and music videos heavily featuring front woman Mia Berrin in tragic displays hearken back to 90s cult hits like “Heathers” and “Virgin Suicides.”
It’s a visual touchstone that instantly provides realistic and clear expectations for listeners, an expectation that weaves its way into the very fabric of “Death of a Cheerleader’s” core messages.
As early as the second track, “Head Cheerleader,” Berrin’s lyricism, equally blunt and poetic, relays the eponymous concept of the album. Berrin is taking the male-crafted, disgustingly sexualized American idea of the cheerleader and beating it into submission until it emerges a something personal, something reclaimed, something unapologetically queer and proud and angry.
In order for this to happen, Pom Pom Squad have to kill what came before.
Death, both metaphorical and literal, is a constant of “Death of a Cheerleader’s” themes. It’s a fatalism born out of disillusionment from the unrealistic expectations of others and of the self.
“Lux” and “Shame Reactions” act as parallel encapsulations of that unbridled conceit. At the end of “Lux,” Berrin screams, “everybody telling me that life goes on / meet me tonight in the garage.” The line, repeated twice lest anyone miss its crystal clear message, is a powerhouse of rage and self-deprecation.
“Shame Reactions'' approaches death from a metaphorical standpoint, the song pivoting around the lyric, “Is there a way for me to kill the girl I wish I were / won’t let me be because I’ll never be enough for her.”
It blends Berrin’s perception of herself and other women with a twisting narrative that uses language equally violent and wanting and personifies the cognitive dissonance of falling for something she’s afraid of being herself.
“Lux” and “Shame Reactions” are also part of the half of the record that embodies rage and mutiny in its composition. Tracks like “Crying,” with its sludge-drenched guitars crawling through the doom-prom anthem, and “Cake,” every second of its brief length surrounded in dueling distortion, exemplifies the glitter-soaked danse macabre at play.
“Drunk Voicemail” comes in like a wrecking ball and then captivates with its rapid, beseeching chorus.
The other side of the record’s sonic purview is apparent in its masterful use of orchestration and textures. While it was certainly present on “Ow,” “Death of a Cheerleader’s” use of string arrangements particularly provides a melancholic texture to many of the album’s more wistful tracks.
Dancing, distorted, strings dance in and out of key to give the outro of “Crying” an ominous beauty. On “Forever,” a choir and quartet give an angelic quality to Berrin’s pleading cry of, “I’m yours forever baby, tell me that you're mine.”
Warbling, rising strings lift up the lullaby that is “This Couldn’t Happen,” and provide architecture to “Be Good’s” dreamlike farewell. Pom Pom Squad is just as apt at creating gothic slow-dances as it is mosh pit bangers.
“Death of a Cheerleader” is like a flash-fire. An immense flame hot enough to burn out even other fires that only lasts less than a second.
The length is part of its impeccable punch. It’s a sucker punch, a landmine; no myriad metaphor can adequately describe how fast and unflinching this record is.
Pom Pom Squad’s debut album performs a masterclass balancing act of anger, yearning, honesty, and sadness with brevity.
You can support Pom Pom Squad by checking out “Death of a Cheerleader” on your preferred streaming service and by picking up some merch via Bandcamp.
Keep up with Pom Pom Squad by following them on Twitter at @pompompsquad. While you're there let us know what you thought of the album by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw!