Doctor’s Orders: Cheerless prescribe their nine favourite albums
Today, I have the enormous pleasure of introducing Far Out readers to a blossoming shoegaze revival act formed in Hackney, London. As we’ll discover in this feature, Cheerless bonded over a burning passion for old-school indie rock music. “Drawing inspiration from the pioneers of shoegaze and the guitar sounds of the late 1980s and ’90s indie scenes,” this remarkable band was founded in 2021, a green shoot from the oppressive haze of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cheerless are a four-piece boasting the talents of frontman Charlie Wigglesworth, bassist Dan Fitzsimmons, guitarist James Parr and drummer Harry Carter. Before the conception of Cheerless, “each member had their own musical journey,” as Parr told me. Wigglesworth, Carter, and Parr “crossed paths during their formative years in Cambridge, their shared passion for music forging a tight camaraderie.”
Later, while studying at Goldsmiths University, Charlie recognised Fitzsimmons’ “exceptional talent” as a bassist, leading to his “seamless integration” into the band’s lineup. Having bonded over a shared passion for moody and experimental forms of rock music, Cheerless already boast chemistry beyond their years and appear poised to take the UK by storm over the coming months.
Cheerless first fell under my radar in September 2022, when I stumbled upon their debut single, ‘Heat’. Something in the pulsing, accelerating beat and catchy shoegaze lead break at the heart of the track ensnared me, prompting a little online stalking. After finding the band on Twitter, we got to talking, and though we’re yet to have our first date – fingers crossed for a local gig in the near future – I’m proud to say we’ve touched base electronically to explore the band’s various musical influences.
As Cheerless prescribe their nine favourite albums for our ‘Doctor’s Orders’ feature in partnership with the mental health charity CALM, one can’t help but feel enthusiastic about the contemporary shoegaze renaissance. Already, Cheerless have released an additional three singles, including ‘True’, for which the band created their first music video in collaboration with videographer Luke Petty (watch below).
If you’re able, and if you can afford to, please consider a small donation to help the CALM cause. £8 can answer one potentially life-saving call.
Cheerless prescribe their nine favourite albums
The Fall – Live at the Witch Trials
Shoegaze spawned from the noise rock and post-punk subgenres in the mid-1980s. With this in mind, it comes with little surprise that Cheerless open their serve on a strong note with The Fall. Despite its name, Live at the Witch Trials was recorded as the Manchester band’s glorious debut album in December 1978 for release the following year. Alongside such releases as Magazine’s Real Life and Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, this album laid tracks for punk’s more artful evolution following the demise of Sex Pistols.
“Out of tune, repetitive, and muddy… this is what makes ‘Live at the Witch Trials’ so listenable,” Fitzsimmons said of the album. “Mark E. Smith’s Mancunian drawl delivering absurdist lyrics like, ‘Yeah yeah industrial estate […] and we’d build a canteen, but we haven’t got the space’ brilliantly captures what (I imagine) was the grimness of a rapidly de-industrialising north of England in the late ’70s.”
Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains
Next up, Fitzsimmons picked out the first and only album of Purple Mountains, the ephemeral project of former Silver Jews member David Berman. The album, released in July 2019, is a deeply artistic platter, tragically foreboding of his suicide just a month later on August 7th.
“Simultaneously one of the funniest, catchiest, and bleakest albums ever written, Berman’s couplets are poetry,” Fitzsimmons opined. “This album has left an indelible mark on me, and I can’t help but use it as a lyrical benchmark for things I hear now.’ And when I see her in the park, it barely merits a remark, how we stand the standard distance distant strangers stand apart.'”
Swans – Love of Life
Wigglesworth kicked his selections off with a slice of experimental gold from the legendary alt-rock band Swans. The band was founded in 1982 by frontman Michael Gira, who has taken the band through several wildly oscillating chapters with intrigue as the only constant. Love of Life, released in 1992, finds Swans in a swirl of neo-psychedelia – unprecedented yet wholly accessible.
“This is a band that has had many iterations, but this era is my favourite,” Wigglesworth said. “Love of Life, in particular, has a great structure, swaying between the stern and sweeping ballads, to the calm, atmospheric, ambient sounds of ‘Identity’ and track five (called only ‘(—) Pt. 5’). These combine to build a sense of place I have never before or since experienced from a record, as if I can see a window into a life. Her merges these two styles in the album’s apogee, an almost perfect track.”
Pixies – Bossanova
Remaining in the early 1990s, Wigglesworth pulled Pixies’ third studio album, Bossanova, from the vault. In 1990, a year after the band’s masterpiece, Doolittle, Bossanova arrived as the infamous friction between Black Francis and bassist Kim Deal reached boiling point. The album wasn’t as widely revered as its two predating LPs, but, as Wigglesworth says, it offers something new and equally robust.
“From what I can tell, this isn’t most Pixies fan’s favourite album, but for me, this has all the interesting chord progressions, off-beat rhythms and sharp riffs of their best works but adds nicely mixed effects, an extra layer of production polish,” he pointed out. “While it may seem to conflict with the band’s more garage roots, to me, it lifts the album and gives it a little more dynamism. The flow from the energetics openers to the more mellow Ana & Havalina balance this album beautifully, and like most Pixies records, is easily enjoyable from start to finish without any duds.”
Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas
For his third and final selection, Wigglesworth remained faithful to the shoegaze era with another classic from 1990. Heaven or Las Vegas is widely regarded as Cocteau Twins’ most consummate offering. The dream-pop soundscapes are miraged by pulsating sound effects and accompanied by Elizabeth Fraser’s ever-arresting vocal style.
“This album really opened me up to what can be done with neat production tricks and layering, often with a ‘less is more’ approach. Clean guitars, bright synths and sequenced drums come together to form a different sound (but one still firmly in the ‘shoegaze’ stable for me that allows the delicate melodies in the vocal lines to live within the layers, not smothered by them. ‘Fotzepolitic’ and ‘Road, River and Rail’ are personal highlights on a record I find myself revisiting frequently.”
Red House Painters – Red House Painters 1
Further demonstrating the band’s devotion to ethereal, moody rock music, Parr picked out the second album of San Francisco-based slowcore progenitors Red House Painters. This album is generally regarded as the group’s masterpiece and is often called Rollercoaster or Red House Painters 1 to distinguish it from their second eponymous record, released later in 1993.
“Red House Painters’ self-titled album is an awesome piece of songwriting that takes me on a wistful and introspective journey into a melancholic space,” Parr said of the album. “The album’s guitar melodies are beautifully crafted, evoking a sense of sweetness, softness, and delicate beauty. Listening to it feels like being adrift on a peaceful pond, gently bobbing up and down, lost in the music’s tranquil embrace. Mark Kozelek’s vocals are filled with raw emotion and an intimate delivery that draws you in, making you feel every word he sings; I would love to make a record this captivating. It almost has that ethereal, untouchable feel of a Jeff Buckley record, and ‘Mistress’ is one of my favourite songs of all time.”
Talk Talk – Laughing Stock
Next, Parr returned to the UK to pick out a late release from Talk Talk. The band, known best for their synth-pop work in the mid-1980s, evolved towards a more experimental and subdued sound by the end of the decade. Three years after the captivating Spirit of Eden, Laughing Stock waved a quiet hand as the band’s parting gift – a truly underappreciated masterpiece.
“This album strikes the perfect balance between experimentation, melodrama, and orchestrated beauty. Its structure is wonderfully shapeless, allowing various instruments and sounds to seamlessly flow in and out,” Parr praised. “Mark Hollis serves as a genuine inspiration to me, and this album exemplifies his dedication to creating a captivating piece of art. It boldly pushes the boundaries of what a conventional post-rock band can achieve, showcasing Mark Hollis as a visionary.”
Beach House – Depression Cherry
For the band’s only selection from this side of the millennium, Parr showed some love for the Baltimore-based dream-pop duo Beach House. Formed by Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally in 2004, the band has remained impressively prolific over the past two decades, with eight studio albums and an EP to their name. To date, 2015’s Depression Cherry stands triumphant as the band’s most masterful and influential record.
“I encountered this album at what I consider a turning point in my life, so it has a special personal significance for me,” Parr said of the album. “In musical terms, the chord progressions and intersecting melodies are some of the most original and beautiful I have ever heard, ‘Beyond Love’ and ‘PPP’ perhaps being the best examples of this.
“Beach House always seems to find the perfect instrumentation to describe these complex patterns that would otherwise be easily lost in dense layers, yet texture and clarity are maintained, such as in the layered vocals at the start of ‘Days of Candy’.”
Madonna – Ray of Light
In a bid for breadth, Carter closed off the band’s selections with a classic album by Madonna. Throughout her long and highly decorated career as the Queen of Pop, Madonna’s vocal prowess has lured some of the finest producers and musicians to the studio. With the guidance of producer William Orbit, 1998’s Ray of Light took an experimental departure from Madonna’s previous work, welcoming strands of ambient electro, trip-hop and psychedelia to the fray.
“I’ve chosen this album because it sits in a place in my memory bank, amongst brit pop classics and 90’s rave nostalgia,” Carter said of the record. “Released just before the turn of the millennium, it became synonymous with early 2000s culture and perfectly captured the spirit of the incoming era. The album crossed lines between a few genres and was one of the first that opened up a world of music for me that wasn’t just guitar-based. Trip-hop drums and ethereal trance synthesisers create a musical landscape that wouldn’t usually be associated with Madonna.
“Tracks like ‘Substitute for Love’ are driven by dream pop/shoegaze guitar melodies, whilst the dance track ‘Nothing Really Matters’ exudes a carefree attitude that my 8-year-old self shamelessly had to dance to. Madonna’s ability to shape-shift through decades and stay relevant has unfortunately wavered, but this album is truly iconic and steeped with nostalgic gold dust.”
