Food Flavored Song: Ugly Cherries by PWR BTTM

Back in the early 2000's I worked as an employee at a nationwide health food chain. It allowed me to pass the time between college radio shifts, punk shows and communication classes. During that time I developed a deep affinity for ugly (and expired) food. This love was largely a result of the store giving any fruit or vegetable that couldn't be sold away to their employees for free. The number one reason for these "write-offs" was cosmetic issues. I took home potatoes with gigantic nubs, apples with slits in them, slightly browned bananas, misshapen pears and ugly cherries. I made magic with all of them. I continue this love today. I am the president of the Tampa chapter of ugly foodies (although I think my election was because of a huge misunderstanding), I subscribe to a number of twitter accounts that celebrate ugly food by posting food porn style pictures of them and I shop at farmer's markets in the bay area that give ugly food a second chance.

At my last ugly foodie meeting, I rolled out PWR BTTM's new single "Ugly Cherries" and asked all those in attendance that it be considered for our chapter's fall theme song. Young upstart Sara, the ugliest of the ugly foodies, demanded that I tell the group a bit about the band. She was concerned that PWR BTTM might not fit our belief system. I told her that they are a queer punk band consisting of Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce. The two met while attending Bard College and quickly bonded over a mutual interest of combining elements of performance and drag artistry with DIY culture. I watched Sara, as all this information rolled off my tongue, and she slumped lower and lower in her seat after each word I spoke. She knew there was no way that a group concerned with celebrating the nuances and uniqueness of food could ever strike down a band consisting of members doing the same for DIY culture. It was either that or the fact that "Ugly Cherries" is just so f***ing rad that she couldn't fight against it. I'd tell you what her song nomination was but there's not point in wasting my breathe. It was that bad. 

PWR BTTM's new LP, also titled Ugly Cherries, hits the market on Sept. 18th via Father/Daughter Records and Miscreant Records.

The video (which is chock full of ugly fruits and veggies that would go great in a smoothie):

Technically "Ugly Cherries" is about a month old. So to get back with the times, here is the new single from PWR BTTM, "1994." It's way better than any other song I've heard that features a date as the title (I'm pointing my banana right towards you Smashing Pumpkins and Sublime).