Cherry Pools
Slay at The Strand
Words: Jackson Cartell
Photos: Nicole Spring
February 21, 2018
On Sunday, Toronto band Cherry Pools brought the house down with summery, hyper-danceable indie pop. The quartet opened for PVRIS at The Strand, but rocked out like headliners.
Flanked by bright neon stage décor (and even brighter-colored hair), Cherry Pools kicked off the show with “Are You In Love,” an 80’s-inspired jam that let frontman Martin Broda show off his pipes.
After a strong start, the band launched into their debut single “Forever Young,” a catchy, nostalgic track that got the crowd dancing. The guys played each song with palpable enthusiasm—bassist Talyn Prior grooved around the stage, drummer Sean Medeiros held it down with some killer rhythms, and guitarist Matty Krumins headbanged like a bona fide emo kid.
Throughout their energetic show, Cherry Pools found time to surprise the audience. A set highlight was an unexpected cover of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” (In Cherry Pools’ exclusive interview with WBRU, lead singer Broda confessed his love for all things Whitney. We can’t blame him.). During the set, multi-instrumentalist Broda switched effortlessly between guitar, piano, and tambourine, and busted out a cowbell for the last song! He even got so into the music that he dropped his mic, but continued singing without missing a beat (luckily, yours truly was on hand to pass the mic back to him! WBRU: supporting musicians since day one).
The band even treated the crowd to an unreleased song, “Hollywood.” In Cherry Pools’ interview with WBRU staffer Jackson Cantrell, Broda revealed that the new tune officially drops in March! Check out the interview below, and be on the lookout for what’s sure to be your next anthem. Cherry Pools are a new band—they released their first single in December 2017!—but they’re already on the rise, and their vibrant, throwback-tinged sound won them instant fans here in PVD. We can’t wait to see what they do next.