The Cheek Of Her

The scene of female singer songwriters is an ever-growing and ever-changing section of modern music. From artists like Jessie J and Cheryl Cole all to KT Tunstall and Fiest the genre is a massive but also tough to break into ,with countless newbies coming in and quickly going out as the hard to please consumers latch away from their initial buzz.

So here is Helen Dooley, or better known to us as The Cheek Of Her. Bursting onto the London scene back in 2010 her blend of pop rock and emotion got her well known and compared to Gwen Stefani, Patti Smith and even a female Jack White. Now shes back with her 2nd EP Megaphonic with added electronically tinged fuzz pop appeal slicing through into new sounds, as well as incorporating sounds from the 50’s and 60’s and trendy London.

The EP kicks off with Beauty Queen which is quirky and cheeky with her unique and occasionally brash voice backing it up. This song incorporates some brilliant lyrics to help it along with a fantastical fairy-tale musical feel to it. Moving through the 5 track EP very little changes and the simple formula of quirky pop rock stays there but at times can get boring, also sometimes vocals just cant be heard clear due to overbearing guitar. But the EP finishs off with a powerful end courtesy of track 5 – The Swell. With the brash edge and power ending the EP wanting you to hear more- however the cliched rain scattering at the end of the final track does put a ‘damper’ on things.

Overall I’d say that TCOH sounds like a fuller and heartier version of Lilly Allen but with the added edge familiar with Marina & The Diamonds and the quirkiness of Paloma Faith. But like most female singer-songwriters there can be improvements made like making the structure of songs change and cut out the cheesy repetition.

But overall I think this is a good 2nd EP and wait for her 3rd attempt with an open mind.

http://www.thecheekofher.com/