Philadelphia band Black Cherry Soda had all the elements of a 90s punk band: short-fast songs, references to skating and Jesus, a touch of hardcore, and loads of melody, all filtered through a distinctly 90s slacker sensibility. After a handful of independent demos, the band released a split 7″ with Portland punks Crux on Boot to Head Records. Shortly after, the band signed to Swirle Records (distributed through VIA) for their full-length debut, the aptly-titled Grin. After 3 years of relative silence, they returned for Back on the Map, this time for Bulletproof Records (a division of Gray Dot).
Although mostly a pop-punk band, their recordings had a raw edge to them, and had enough skate punk/new school punk influence to them to appeal as much to fans of 7Seconds and Dag Nasty as they did to Green Day or MxPx. In fact, Dan Rauter’s talk/sing vocal approach seems to be directly influenced by Dave Smalley and/or Kevin Seconds.
This was a fun band that was unfortunately too short-lived for punk fans. Speaking of short-lived, “ILM” clocks in at under two minutes, but is a great introduction to the debut album, and the band as a whole.
