Food Flavored Song: Cherry Picking by Potty Mouth

Aw, the 90's. What a glorious time I had. There was some punk rock, government conspiracies, soccer. *Thumbs quickly through a journal covered with Spuddy Buddy stickers* I see there were also lots of car accidents, paint jobs, farmhouse coal mines and dishwashing. Wait, why did I like the 90's again? Oh yeah, because of the cherry picking. In my 90's world cherry picking had three distinct meanings. First, it was what happened when you saw a tree full of pitted fruit calling your name and responded like any sensible person would. Stuffed your mouth full. Depending on your location, you may have been met by a rifle toting farmer trying to protect his crop. Fear not, a quick quip about Reagan being a fascist followed by a stop, drop and roll down the embankment behind you usually worked. Second, cherry picking was what happened to people that were either too lazy or didn't like playing defense in a sport that doesn't have offsides (i.e. basketball). They'd wait on the offensive side for the other team to either score or lose the ball to their team. I never did that and I hated the people who did. I always threw the ball to them just a little too high so it would go off their hands and out of bounds. Then I slapped them on the ass and told them to learn to catch. My coach's always agreed with me. The final meaning of cherry picking was the person who confirms a position based on a small sample of evidence, totally forgetting about all the other evidence that points in the opposite direction. I used to pull that on my friend's mom all the time. Thing is, she didn't have the internet to prove me wrong (it was a 90's thing). If I were the type of person who nicknamed all the decades of my lifetime after fruits (and I'm not), the 90's are clearly the cherry picking years (okay, yes I have named the decades after fruit).

So why this 90's cherry picking nostalgia? Because I've just finished listening to "Cherry Picking" by Potty Mouth. The song, mainly the vocal harmonies present in the chorus, feels a lot like some of the finer moments of 90's alternative (think Veruca Salt, Nirvana). In cherry form, this is the pit. As far as the fruit that surrounds it, the intense, almost violent bass that reverberate throughout, the ear shattering drums and the sprinkling in of telephone style spoken words have pop-punk and feminist punk written all over it. Probably not surprising considering the EP that "Cherry Picking" comes from was produced by John Goodmanson who has worked with Sleater-Kinney and Bikini Kill amongst others. Why go to him unless he offered something they liked? The track, according to The Fader, actually was inspired by lead singer Abby Weems' viewing Chelsea Peretti's Netflix special over and over again. At the root of the track is the idea that people feel Potty Mouth should fit into a riot grrl revival box but it just doesn't work for them.

In support of the EP, which is self-titled, the band will hit the road for a small run of East Coast headline shows in September. You can see the full listing of dates at the bottom of this post.
 

If you get a chance to check out the EP, which comes out on August 21st via Potty Mouth's Planet Whatever Records, pay special attention to track number four, "Long Haul." It's also a pretty fun song  (the verses and music remind me a lot of Weezer, the chorus....not so much).

POTTY MOUTH 2015 TOUR DATES:
9/21                 Allston [Boston], MA @ Great Scott
9/22                 Philadelphia, PA @ Boot & Saddle
9/23                 New Haven, CT  @ BAR
9/24                 Brooklyn, NY @ Shea Stadium