Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Charly Bliss’ Debut Album “Guppy” Could be Called “Fun Songs About Self-Loathing to Dance Around To”

charly bliss
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Though Charly Bliss has been around for the better part of a decade, the Brooklyn-based quartet is only now releasing its debut album. Titled Guppy, the record is filled with guitar-led power pop songs in the vein of 90s alt rock bands like Weezer and Veruca Salt. For the majority of its existence, Charly Bliss has made its name as a live band, opening for artists like Glass Animals, Darwin Deez, Tokyo Police Club, Sleater-Kinney, and the band’s own musical forebears, Veruca Salt.

Robyn Hitchcock - “I Want To Tell You About What I Want” [Official Audio]

In 2014 the group released a three-song EP and eventually began to record a full-length album. After two false-starts, its members realized the core problem. “We basically had to come to terms with the fact that we are, at heart, a pop band,” explains the band’s Spencer Fox. “We had to create an ecosystem where our loud, messy rock sounds could co-exist with these super catchy melodies and pop hooks.”

The excellent Guppy is the result of Charly Bliss learning how to let both of those impulses thrive. Opening track “Percolator” establishes the record’s character right from the get-go. With its chugging guitar, infectious chorus, and Eva Hendricks’ energetic, melodic vocals, the song is a mission statement for the album.

Charly Bliss - Percolator [Official Music Video]

Lead single “Glitter” leans more on the band’s power pop side as vocalist Eva Hendricks gives a saccharine note to the lyrics. Hendricks describes the track as “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.” Explaining further, Hendricks adds, “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.”

With its well balanced mixture of melodic pop and driving rock, Guppy is proof that the members of Charly Bliss were wise to take the time to get the sound right for their debut.

Charly Bliss’ Guppy is out now through Barsuk Records and is available on Amazon, iTunes, and the Barsuk Records online shop.

Terence Praet
Terence Praet contributes to The Manual’s New Music Monday column. He studied Philosophy and History at Skidmore College…
Everything points to Apple TV+ making a change you’re not going to like
Is an ad-supported tier coming to Apple TV+?
The Apple TV Plus Logo

It turns out that TV worked pretty well under its old model. According to a new report from Business Insider, Apple TV+ may be the latest streaming service that's set to introduce an ad-supported tier and charge those who don't stream with ads a premium fee to access their great shows and movies.

At this point, the report is still speculation, but Apple has made several recent hires in the advertising space that seem to suggest the direction they're planning to take. The company recently hired former NBCUniversal ad executive Joseph Cady to serve as executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships, a move that comes following the company's hiring of another former NBCUniversal executive, Jason Frum, who joined Apple's video ad sales team.

Read more
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more
12 classic sci-fi books everyone should read
If you love science fiction and reading, these classic sci-fi novels are a must
Man reading a book and drinking coffee

It may feel like we were recently living in a science-fiction dystopia life -- and in some ways, we were -- but that doesn't mean that we should simply avoid an entire genre of writing. Hardly. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to explore classic sci-fi books, to see what the masters have written, and maybe even see if someone predicted anything like this. Many, though, simply ignore sci-fi wholly and completely because of an association with robots, aliens, and the like.

Long story short, if you think you don't like sci-fi, you have never read great books from the genre. But indeed, many such books abound, including a number that has delighted generations of readers going back well over 150 years. In fact, one of the best things about so many sci-fi books is their very timelessness. As by definition, this type of fiction breaks away from the norms of the everyday world -- whether slightly twisting things or taking place on entire other worlds -- the stories often feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were published decades ago.

Read more