Self-Cut Bangs
Self-Cut Bangs
Self-Released
Calgary, AB
RIYL: Swearin’; Wares; Crayola zig-zag scissors

2020 may have been filled with a lot of regrettable at-home haircuts but you won’t regret listening to Self-CutBangs. The debut LP from Calgary duo Cayley O’Neill (Dark Time) and Shawn Petsche (Napalmpom) overflows with fun rock tunes, delicious guitar riffs, and a sweaty energy that will make you crave seeing these songs performed at a basement show with a bunch of your pals.

The joy that fueled the making of Self-Cut Bangs thrums consistently on each track but there are a few specific moments that make me grin with every listen: O’Neill’s inspiring line on the Friday night anthem “Perfect Posture,” which reads like a positive Co-Star notification: “Chin up, chin up, it’s time to stand tall”; the howling guitar solo on the baseball-filled tune “Ace”; the playful vocal layering in the repeated line “You can’t (catch me, baby).” But my biggest grin happens during “After All” when O’Neill tells us what Self-Cut Bangs is all about: “Gonna make it. After all we got rock and roll.”

Laura Stanley