Nervous Like Me

Chronique

Just a few years before the release of their debut album, Nervous Like Me, the three members of Cayetana had barely picked up their instruments and learned to be a band, which attributed to their direct and uncomplicated lo-fi indie punk sound. Straight out of college, the trio got to work making D.I.Y. music the way many of the bands from the Philadelphia scene have done, from the War on Drugs to Waxahatchee and Swearin'. There is an immediacy to their effervescent songs, mixing driving drums and inventive bass runs with lead singer Augusta Koch's croaky, yet melodic vocals and distorted guitar. With only the final song on the record reaching over three minutes, Cayetana certainly don't hang around, providing short and sweet tracks that demonstrate the adolescent tendencies of the alt-punk genre, yet weigh in with world-weary lyrics that set the tone on "Scott Get the Van, I'm Moving," while alleviating the seriousness on album-opener "Serious Things Are Stupid." Their unfiltered attitude and emotions run in the same lines as the riot grrrl bands Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, yet their melodic and lo-fi appeal sets them closer to contemporaries Swearin' and Speedy Ortiz. The fuzzy guitar that drives "Madame B" acts mostly as a palette for Koch's clever and honest lyrics -- which are belted, croaked, screamed, and squeaked out -- while it provides the energy on the highly catchy and amusingly titled "Hot Dad Calendar." Fortunately they mix up their styles constantly and avoid sounding repetitive, with "Animal" providing a bouncy riff that combines wonderfully with the drums, and "Favorite Things" proves they are comfortable slowing things down. Cayetana took their time between signing a record deal and making Nervous Like Me, and the care and attention that they've given each track manage to shine through the lo-fi fuzz that defines their sound.

© Scott Kerr /TiVo