Perennial's 'Modernism' Is Twenty Glorious Minutes of Organ-Powered Mod Fury
Perennial have been at this since 2015, and Modernism — out September 18th on Ernest Jenning Record Co., with Safe Suburban Home handling the UK — is their newest full-length. Bandcamp Daily made it Album of the Day and delivered the verdict in one line: “Punk has never sounded so stylish, baby.”
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: There isn’t a bassist. Perennial is Chad Jewett (electric guitar and vocals), Chelsey Hahn (electric organ and vocals) and Ceej Wolf (drums), and Hahn’s organ carries the bottom octave. That’s the whole architecture: the low end is sustained rather than plucked, so it swells under Wolf’s snare instead of punching alongside it, and the songs move like a Stax revue that fell into a Dischord basement.
The Spatial Dynamics: Chris Teti — their longtime producer, known for his work with The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die — treats the studio as a fourth instrument. Mellotron loops bracket feedback squalls; the mix keeps the organ wide and the guitar narrow so the two never fight for the same real estate. Bandcamp Daily’s phrase for the effect is exactly right: “instant electricity, pure adrenaline.”
Standout Performance
Hahn, for making an electric organ the most aggressive instrument in a punk band without ever resorting to a distortion pedal to do it.
Why It’s Certified
⚡ “Perennial ’65,” “Cloak & Dagger” and “What’s New On The Beat Scene” are the thesis: freakbeat riffs, soul hooks, no wasted bars.
🌈 “Me and The Magpie,” “Baby, Are You Abstract?,” “Ready! Steady! Go!” and closer “Emma Peel” round out ten tracks that are over inside twenty minutes and demand an immediate replay.
Certified great.