Hi, everyone. Bigthony Spoontano here, the internet's spooniest Music Nerd. It's time for a review of this new Cheekface album, Middle Spoon.

Cheekface. California indie rock outfit. They are back. Brand new LP. America's local band, they are at it again. Cheekface is a group that I hope you are familiar with at this point. If you follow this channel closely, as I have been fairly vocal about thinking that they are one of the the most fun and weirdly sincere rock bands out there right now.

Now, I know their sound and style is not going to be for everybody, but I really admire how the band wears its silly sense of humor on its sleeve and on top of that, I really think they're riding for nerd rock and nerd pop in a way that no other group or artist out there right now is. Love it or hate it, there have been a lot of moments in the past where nerd or dork adjacent music has had a space in the limelight on some level, be it through bands like They Might Be Giants or weird backpack rap artists, freaking Barenaked Ladies, Cake, Weezer, the list goes on.

And despite the terminal coolness of the modern day music scene, Cheekface is still out here totally cheeked up, and they have a pretty passionate cult fan base to show for it.

With that being said, though, this is an element of the band's style. I don't even think they could hide if they wanted to. I think Cheekface's music continues to serve as a reminder that one of the coolest things you can do or be is yourself and just generally not worry about the public's perceptions of what's trendy or hot.

But being against the meta isn't the only thing the band has going for them. The band still continues to deliver these quirked up tight post punky groups that get my head nodding every time. And with several albums being under their belts at this point, the group has gotten quite great at writing very snappy choruses. Also, if you don't mind or even like some absurdity, humor, even a splash of wit in your music, the band's lyrics should have you giggling pretty easily.

But if there is something I could be critical of with the band's direction as of late, it's really the lack thereof. And you can actually hear the band embracing that element of their music in a pretty overt way on lead singles like "Growth Sucks", where I think the band accepts the idea of change as a fact of reality on some level, but that doesn't mean that they're not going to try to fight it, at least on some level with this track that sonically, lyrically, is quintessential Cheekface with the talk-sung lyrics and all, and a narrative that's essentially about the importance of being your original self or whatever you perceive to be, that being more significant than radical evolution.

There are even deeper cuts on this record where similar sentiments are echoed. For example, "I Know What's Going to Happen", which is packed with lyrics about loving the idea of rerun television shows because there's a familiarity there. On some level, Middle Spoon here does feel like a bit of a rerun for the band, with, again, the band's trademarked grooves and vocal style, a very dry production, some subtle but also overt '90s callbacks.

But even with all of those elements still in the mix, the band works a fair amount of new-ish ideas into the fold with this tracklist. Like with "Don't Dream", where on the back end of the track, the band touches down on a bit of pop rock ska fusion, which, yeah, is new for them, but simultaneously does work very snugly into that nerd rock angle. On "Rude World", the band goes full on into white reggae mode, but in about as self-aware a way as you can be going into that thing. I mean, the grooves on the track are solid. The samples in the background are hilarious. The nursery rhyme flows are odd, and I love the song's social commentary about just how desensitized and crass modern society is, and essentially going against that feeling.

Then "Military Gum" is a surprising hard rock and rap fusion featuring none other than Mr. McKinley Dixon, which is a truly unforeseen crossover that somehow works out really really well. Not only do I love McKinley's verse on the track, but the excessive guitar noodling on the song is really just the band daring you to call this track cheesey.

And "Wind is Gone" – while I'm not as crazy about this song as I am others on the record, even ones that are a bit more predictable by Cheekface's standards, I could see what the group is doing with this one in terms of leaning a bit more into loops on their grooves and also these dial tone samples which fit into the lyrical narrative of the track. Though, again, I do think those phone tones are a bit obnoxious and ruin the vibe of the song.

Then, of course, given Cheekface's need for consistency, there are plenty of tracks on this record where they are essentially proving there's still gas left in the tank with their typical sound and somehow delivering some of the best lyricism in their catalog in the process. The song "Art House", for example, is a pop rock triumph and really sounds like if this track had been released in the '90s, it would have been a commercial smash, especially if it had been attached to a soundtrack for a rom-com nobody can remember anymore.

Then the opening track "Living Lo-Fi", I just love lyrically as a concept, as the band creates this idea of what it is to be living lo-fi, which for them is just being in the midst of and accepting a less than ideal lifestyle, living in a mess you've made or some low-level chronic pain or something that you're just dealing with or pushing into the background of your mind.

"Flies", I don't think is one of the best Cheekface songs of all time, but still it does feature bars like, "The market is flooded with people like me / Our value is plummeting / Now we're worthless and free."

Meanwhile, "Content Baby" is all about a romantic dynamic that is viewed through the lens of being like internet content. "You have my consent to share me / I want to be your content."

In addition to that, the band continues to build on their usual sound with tracks that I mentioned earlier, "I Know What's Going to Happen", where the touches of strings on that track just add so much, even though it's just a very subtle, simple layer.

Meanwhile, the closing track, "Hard Mode", has all these speedy, rhythmic pianos that feel very LCD Soundsystem-coded, and given Cheekface's love of post-punk and spoken word over dance grooves, it was only a matter of time before they made an overt LCD Soundsystem reference in a way.

But yeah, overall, this record from Cheekface, I think, is pretty good. A few weak cuts here and there. Again, the band is painting themselves into a corner to an extent, creatively on some level, in my opinion.

But despite the band's clear, and on some level understandable, aversion to growth and change, there are some new and refreshing cuts on this album that I think go over very well. But yes, Cheekface, still stand out, still silly, still sharp, and most definitely consistently dropping records. They're truly nerd rock workhorses, and I am feeling a decent to strong 7 on this album.

Anthony Fantano, Cheekface, Forever.