The path that led to their first full-length record, Guppy, was anything but straightforward. As the story goes, the band officially started when frontwoman Eva Hendricks and guitarist Spencer Fox, both just 15, crossed paths at a Tokyo Police Club show in New York City, but the ties within the band go much deeper than that. “It’s kind of insane and hilarious,” says Eva, “Sam is my older brother, so obviously we’ve known each other our whole lives, but all of us have been connected to each other since we were little kids. Dan Shure and I dated when we were in our early teens and he and Spencer went to summer camp together. Dan and I broke up years ago, but eventually he’ d become our bass player. The reason we all get along so well has to do with the fact we share this ridiculous history. We are all deeply embedded in each other’s lives.”
After spending years playing shows in and around New York City, the band eventually released an EP (2014’s Soft Serve) and scored opening gigs for the likes of Glass Animals, Darwin Deez, Tokyo Police Club, Sleater-Kinney, as well as a touring spot for their own musical forebears, Veruca Salt. Even though the band had amassed a sizable fanbase and a reputation as a truly formidable live act, the goal of making a full-length record proved to be a fraught series of false-starts. Given their propensity for making hooky, ebullient pop songs, the band often felt out of step with what was happening around them in Brooklyn. (“We weren’t weird in the right ways,” says Sam). They eventually set about recording an album on their own—and then recording it twice—before figuring out what had been staring them in the face the entire time. “We basically had to come to terms with the fact that we are, at heart, a pop band,” recalls Spencer. “Before, it was always trying to decide which of the songs would be more ‘rock’ and which would be more poppy, but we eventually realized we needed to meet in the middle, we had to create an ecosystem where our loud, messy rock sounds could co-exist with these super catchy melodies and pop hooks. It was really about realizing what we’re best at as a band.”
The ten tracks that make up Guppy, Charly Bliss’ sparkling full-length debut, show the band embracing all of their strengths—a combination of ripping guitars and irrepressible pop hooks, all delivered with the hyper-enthusiasm of a middle school cafeteria food fight. That every track is loaded front-to-back with sing/shout-worthy lyrics and earworm melodies is a testament to the band's commitment to the art form of pop songwriting. Opening track “Percolator” sets the tone—all power riffs and yo-yo-ing melodies playing against Hendricks’ acrobatic vocals, which veer from gentle coo to an emphatic squeal:
I’m gonna die in the getaway car! I would try but it sounds too hard! It's a vibe that carries throughout Guppy, a record that shares an undeniable kinship with 90’s alt-rockers like Letters to Cleo and That Dog—bands that balanced melodicism, sugary vocals, and overdriven guitar turned up to 11. It’s an aesthetic that Charly Bliss both embraces and improves upon in tracks like “Ruby” (“We actually wrote the guitar solo by sitting in a circle and passing the guitar around, each of us adding our own notes,” says Fox) and “Glitter”, the record’s first single. “I wanted to make a song about being romantically involved with someone who makes you kind of hate yourself because they are so much like you,” says Hendricks, “A fun song about complicated self-loathing that you could also dance around your bedroom to—that kind of sums us up as a band, actually.”
“Pop music can actually be very subversive,” she continues. “The lyrics that I'm most proud of on the record are me existing both in and out of this overgrown teenybopper feeling—feeling like everything I was going through was the most extreme thing that had ever happened to anyone ever. The songs are often about being totally in the throes of this stuff, but also being able to step out of it and make fun of myself. It’s possible to write songs that really get at all of these dark feelings while also just being really fun to sing and dance to. You can be serious and also sing about peeing while jumping on a trampoline.”
Guppy is a record that doesn’t so much seek to reinvent the pop wheel so much as gleefully refine it. “People forget sometimes that expressing joy is just as important as examining despair,” says Shure. “People need joy, especially right now. We’re all about writing tight pop songs, but also giving people this super enthusiastic release. These songs are kind of the sound of expressing something that you can’t really contain. These are songs you play really loudly when you need to freak out.”
CHARLY BLISS IS
EVA HENDRICKS,
SAM HENDRICKS,
SPENCER FOX,
DAN SHURE
Glitter
Charly Bliss Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Glitter in between my teeth
Here we gather at your feet
Speak himself to sunken sleep
Can't stop shitting where you eat
You're a joke or I'm just mean
I can't cum and I can't lie
I can't stop making myself cry
I'll have my cake and eat it too
I wish I could be good to you
Am I the best?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say
Like a husband loves a wife
Every day and every night
Milk my brain and take my life
Everything we say is right
Little monkey up your sleeve
Kiss each other, make a scene
"We're all slaves to fame, I guess"
Push me down, put on your dress
I'll have my cake and eat it too
I wish I could be good to you
Am I the best?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say
Am I the best?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say yes?
Or just the first person to say
The lyrics to Charly Bliss's song "Glitter" may seem puzzling upon first listen, but upon closer examination they reveal a complex relationship dynamic. The opening lines depict the singer's love interest as a "vacant queen" with "glitter in between [her] teeth." The imagery implies a certain allure to this person, while also suggesting an emptiness or lack of substance. Despite this, the singer and others gather at this person's feet, listening to their words until they are in a "sunken sleep."
The chorus reflects the singer's conflicted feelings towards this person. They want to have their cake and eat it too, enjoying the pleasure of being with them while also acknowledging that they are not always good to them. The lines "Am I the best? Or just the first person to say yes?" suggest that the love interest may not actually be the singer's ideal partner, but rather someone who they feel they should be with or who provides some sort of validation.
Line by Line Meaning
Hellmouth boy, my vacant queen
Addressing a partner in a dysfunctional relationship as both a hellmouth boy and vacant queen
Glitter in between my teeth
The presence of glitter in the singer's mouth is a metaphor for the superficiality and emptiness of their relationship
Here we gather at your feet
The singer's submission to their partner, who they see as superior
Speak himself to sunken sleep
The partner's words have the power to sedate the artist and lower their guard
Can't stop shitting where you eat
The artist is aware that their actions are causing damage to their relationship, but can't stop themselves from continuing
You're a joke or I'm just mean
The singer is unsure whether the issues in their relationship stem from their partner's behavior or their own harshness
I can't cum and I can't lie
The singer is unable to experience pleasure or be honest about their feelings
I can't stop making myself cry
The artist is trapped in an emotionally destructive cycle related to their relationship
I'll have my cake and eat it too
The artist wants to have the benefits of their current relationship without the negative consequences
I wish I could be good to you
Despite their flaws, the artist wishes they could treat their partner better
Am I the best?
The singer is questioning whether they are truly the best partner for their current lover
Or just the first person to say yes?
The artist wonders if their relationship is merely a result of being the first to agree to it
Like a husband loves a wife
The singer compares their relationship to a traditional marriage, but with an unhealthy dynamic
Every day and every night
The singer feels trapped in their relationship, as it consumes their thoughts constantly
Milk my brain and take my life
The singer's partner has a hold on them, draining them both mentally and physically
Everything we say is right
The artist's partner is described as someone who always wants to be right, leading to friction in the relationship
Little monkey up your sleeve
The artist sees their partner as someone who is cunning and has secrets
Kiss each other, make a scene
The singer is acting out their love in the hopes of gaining attention or approval from others
"We're all slaves to fame, I guess"
The singer acknowledges that they and their partner are both pursuing fame or recognition through their actions
Push me down, put on your dress
The artist's partner is described as someone who is aggressive and controlling
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Written by: Daniel Jason Shure, Eva Grace Hendricks, Samuel Robert Hendricks, Spencer Fox
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@wateringcan2
Here's the tracklisting from the Stereogum article:
01 “Percolator”
02 “Westermarck”
03 “Glitter”
04 “Black Hole”
05 “Scare U”
06 “Ruby”
07 “DQ”
08 “Gatorade”
09 “Totalizer”
10 “Julia”
@plxnetastro
Ever since I heard this on Nightvale, I deadass can't stop listening to it.
@BaldotheDon
I'm a Gen-X metalhead. Born in America, living in Europe. It's three in the morning. I've spent the last two hours modifying the reticle on a sniper rifle in one of my favorite games. Glitter playing on loop in the background the whole time. Waves of nostalgia for pre-covid days, for a time when I marathon-watched my Buffy DVDs once a year, my cat was still with us, and fun was easier to find.
It's breaking my heart, tonight. The story in this song is dark, but it's sung with the joy of a heart not yet shadowed by loss and death and acknowleged mortality. Her voice is so cute and the guitars are so loud and the beat is so solid. Why is it killing me like this?
Maybe it's 'cause this is a spring-summer song and it's so cold on this December night. And I miss my cat. And I miss the days when I didn't think about death so much.
I can't stop making myself cry.
@parmavioIets
lovely weather we are having
@Crackmandan
Thank you for bring the 90's back...I feel better now.
@aFoxyFox.
Is this like the 90's? I'm not so sure really.
@Hydra830
Far from 90's it sounds 10's or 20's
@aFoxyFox.
@@Hydra830 As in 2010s and 2020s?
@GDNITE
no, the 1910s and 1920s...@@aFoxyFox.
@almagarza6684
Very high contender for my album of the year. Such a solid album.
@rahlmaclaren1478
That guitar at 0:57 - 1:11 is a syringe of pure undiluted Nostalgia.