Pop music has come along way since the sugary blend of bubblegum that was churned out in the early 2000s. Pop in 2019 is complex, with a focus on exploring the sound of times past like the synth of the 80s or the sound of the future like the PC hop, skip and jump of artists like SOPHIE and Charli XCX. However for an artist with such an established presence in pushing the boundaries of the internet’s ever growing influence on music, one would think that if Charli XCX was to create a band of four women they would sound more manufactured. Nasty Cherry, the band she did in fact create, doesn’t join Charli’s PC movement at all. Instead, the foursome harken back to her early days, grabbing the punk pop elements of Break The Rules and amping it up to one hundred.

With the release of their debut EP, Season 1, Nasty Cherry show an incredibly well-established sound that never questions itself. The girls never blink, unflinchingly embracing rock elements and leaning heavily on their instruments that prop their talent up immaculately. The fourteen minute EP is a beautiful taster of what could be one of the most exciting acts of the next decade just like XCX was before them. They’re full of charisma and ambition, determined to bring their vision to life, and you can feel that on every track. The quartet slip between the groovy funk of ‘Brain Soup’ to the soft ballad waves of ‘Fuck Modern Love’ with an eerily wonderful precision, while somehow curating the tracks with a marvellous cohesion that really ties the record together. Each member pulls their weight with every strum of a guitar and every beat of a drum just as important as any of the vocal work.

In the end, it’s the lead single ‘Win’ that stands out on Season 1. Not just because it’s a near perfect punky rock moment, but because it perfectly sums the groups sound up. Their talent is crystal clear and as they chant about how they “need to win”, you can’t help but feel they deserve to.