SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHOKECHERRY – RIPE FRUIT ROTS AND FALLS

CHOKECHERRY
RIPE FRUIT ROTS AND FALLS
FEARLESS RECORDS

There is an old saying: “It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Since Chokecherry has entered the scene, such words have more of a profound meaning now than they ever did in their still-budding career. Listening to Chokecherry’s new LP, Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls, two voices have joined together in a shared experience of pain to build a new chapter of optimism born from the scars that created it. Solid, raw, and exposed, Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls is a journey of love, loss, anger, and the sour aftertaste of acceptance that emotionally never quite settles into one place. Produced by Chris Coady, Christopher Grant, and Zach Tuch, they have helped create a musical vision that extends beyond heartbreak. Chokecherry’s debut effort is more than this. It is a snapshot of how such emotions embody the world around us. The political movements that have overwhelmed our state of being in 2025 have further exacerbated the social deterioration of empathy and of what it means to be human in a world where so few of these emotions exist at this moment. Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls takes us on this journey: one that takes imagined futures of happiness and success and strips them away from the surface to the inner core.

As soon as their debut experience begins, Chokecherry kicks off with“Porcelain Warrior,” “Major Threat,” and “Pretty Things,” which encapsulate what it means to be self-aware of the cruelty that exists in the world. In many ways, these first tracks are not just the makeup of the world, but the duality in which the world works, a mood that consistently plays throughout. Sonically, this duality shapes these experiences, its post-rock and shoegaze influences dreamily fitting around its intimate lyrics like a warm glove covering cold, frostbitten hands. Emotionally cinematic and edgy, Chokecherry’s signature Bay Area sound sparkles and cuts at once, its vocal harmonies effortlessly sewn together to create a sound that feels wide open yet packs a punch.

Moving into the next few tracks, “Secrets,” “Goldmine,” and “Part of You,” continuously wander into this anxious, coastal, melancholic vibe, one that feels like a warm breeze at sunset. Yet once its technicolored skies fade, a coldness lurks beneath the surface. Yet both vocalists find a way to keep such frigid accents contained within the gorgeous melodic textures that engulf the sadness, allowing one to process the pain while feeling the cathartic release of coming face to face with the pain that is killing the happiness that has been snatched away time and time again. Something Chokecherry has been successful with in this album is keeping us engaged in this world of sunshine, sand, and gritty city landscapes, exposing an existence that, on the surface, feels exciting and nostalgic, yet, if you dig a little deeper, the tides threaten to wash up something ugly and depressing. This kind of dichotomy is not easy to replicate, yet Chokecherry makes it look simple to showcase raw emotions and artfully paint the landscape in which they occurred.

“You Love It When,” “Oblivion,” “February,” and the final shimmering highlight, “Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls,” snap the album into this pins and needles, hardcore-tinged energy introduced earlier by whetted experience, “Major Moment.” A subtle salute to the band’s 90s-tinged abrasive influences while remaining internally engaged in the broader concepts of the album, it’s an inked reminder that Chokecherry can blend experimental, aggressive, and melodic elements to light within the same experience without losing focus on the overall soundscapes that make their audacious, atmospheric sound so special.

Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls is a kaleidoscopic view of moments in life, rather than a straightforward narrative. A milieu of emotional rot, internal panic, and benevolence, underscored by political guise, Chokecherry’s debut album is a rough storm upon the ocean, its unpredictable, tumultuous waves emotionally pivoting from personal to public, exposing, in subtle ways, the repulsive nature that resides in today’s landscape. One that would rather drown in a delusion of fantasized normalcy than feel the pain of a world that is up in flames. Yet at the same time, there is a beauty within the haze of dreams and hope that blankets the rot, and for these reasons, their debut release is a strong and compelling first impression of a band that has only scratched the surface of their artistic talents.

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