Pom Pom Squad have announced their debut album: Death of a Cheerleader arrives on June 25 via City Slang. The Brooklyn-based outfit have also shared a new single, ‘Head Cheerleader’, which features backing vocals from Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara and comes with a video co-directed by frontwoman Mia Berrin alongside Julia Sub. Check it out below and scroll down for the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.
Talking about the new track in a statement, Berrin explained that it “was an effort to lean into the overarching trope that makes Pom Pom Squad what it is—almost like parodying myself. Heart shaped lockets and scary cheerleaders and young adult chaos and self-discovery and deep ungraceful discomfort. I was also in a really complicated relationship at the time that really pushed me to come face to face with my sexual identity in a way I never had before. I had this realization that the life I was living was designed around receiving attention and validation from men – something I never truly wanted. The result of that realization was like stepping out of an old skin. It changed the way I behaved in every aspect of my life. I was finally making decisions toward my own self-actualization instead of for other people’s perception. It was terrifying and exciting and necessary. This song feels like a celebration of the discomfort that comes with stepping into your new skin—your own power.”
Of the video, she added: “The image of laying awake in a grave underneath plastic grass, a painted sky, and flowers growing from these creepy, textured structures seemed to represent what I wanted out of a full length – something fierce and funny, dreamy, dark, queer… I think the video marks a turning point in my project in the same way it marked a turning point in my life. The song is about accepting yourself radically – I think the video explores that through a really fun campy lens.”
Death of a Cheerleader was produced by Illuminati Hotties’ Sarah Tudzin and includes the previously shared single ‘Lux’, which landed on our Best New Songs segment. The ‘Head Cheerleader’ video includes a preview of an unreleased track from the record.
Death of a Cheerleader Cover Artwork:
Death of a Cheerleader Tracklist:
1. Soundcheck
2. Head Cheerleader
3. Crying
4. Second That
5. Cake
6. Lux
7. Crimson + Clover
8. RWL
9. Forever
10. Shame Reactions
11. Drunk Voicemail
12. This Couldn’t Happen
13. Be Good
14. Thank You And Goodnight
