photo
Connecticut’s dance-punk heroes Perennial are becoming well-known for their chaotic and engaging live shows, opting for short sets of constant mayhem instead of drawn out affairs. One listen to any Perennial album can give some hints as to how these songs translate to a live environment. The trio have been on a hot streak, and they’re continuing to capitalize. The band’s third album Art History (2024) and the subsequent 2025 deluxe edition saw them expand their audience internationally, with tours ranging from California to England. Their fourth album, Modernism, comes out next week, and the band is celebrating with a quick run of release shows along the east coast.
Perennial is known for uncaging very quick, very loud and very dance-y punk-adjacent tunes. The trio, consisting of Chad Jewett on guitar and vocals, Chelsey Hahn on electric organ and vocals, and Ceej Wolf on drums, takes inspiration from a spectrum of genres from mod to 60’s R&B to free jazz. Modernism represents the band at their most upfront, with 10 rapid-fire and blistering punk songs that somehow sound even more cacophonous than their previous works. The previous Perennial albums were marked with a mix of punk bruisers and more experimental, instrumental works. Modernism focuses almost squarely on the former, with only a few moments of bliss scattered across the runtime. Instead, the songs on Modernism explore new sonic territories within the confines of their hooky punk songs. The album’s ten tracks take up a whole 20:01, as to not completely drain the listener from walls of guitar. Perennial appreciate the art of getting in and getting out.
Perennial are celebrating the release of Modernism with four shows in the east coast area:
· 9/16 at Space Ballroom (Hamden, CT) with Glambat and Untold Joys
· 9/17 at Union Pool (Brooklyn, NY) with Oceanator
· 9/18 at Comet Ping Pong (Washington DC) with Club USA
· 9/19 at Deep Cuts (Medford, MA) with Sinaloa and Club Blood
The show at Deep Cuts will serve as a true record release, as Perennial play for a long-faithful Medford crowd. A handful of the cuts on Modernism have already been released, but fans should prepare themselves for what will be a wild and hectic night even by Perennial standards.
We talked briefly to Perennial over email about Modernism, the upcoming shows and fun Perennial facts:
Allston Pudding: What were the major influences on Modernism, and what was the recording process like?
Perennial: During the writing process albums like A Quick One by the Who, Hip Hug-Her by Booker T. & The MG’s, This Year’s Model by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Otis Blue by Otis Redding, Sound Affects by The Jam were all a real influence. All really compact albums that are just jam-packed with ideas and melodies and riffs. I love the directness of those records, how dense they are with hooks.
We recorded the skeletons of the songs — drums, guitar, vocals — really quickly, which left a lot of time and sonic space to try new stuff. For instance, on “Ready! Steady! Go!” where previously I might have put a second guitar, we instead recorded a vibraphone part. We were able to come up with that part because we left room on the initial basic track for trial and error — to see what fit, what sounded exciting to us. In that way the mid-60s Beatles records (as always) were very influential. A song like “Strawberry Fields Forever”, where the band tried version after version, all these different arrangements, that’s certainly an inspiration when you’re playing around in the sandbox, trying new things.
AP: How does Modernism contrast to previous Perennial records?
Perennial: I think it’s the tightest record we’ve done in terms of being made up of quick, almost-power pop songs, with a focus on hooks; the songs feel very direct and kinetic. It’s our first 10 song full-length and that was deliberate: we wanted something as condensed and taut as possible. But conversely I think it’s also the most sonically-rich and expansive record we’ve done: a lot of mellotron and electric piano and fuzz bass and drum programming and analog synthesizers and sampling. It’s a punk record but with all this psychedelic pop texture layered in.
AP: Modernism feels – to me, at least – like the most feral Perennial album so far. Is that your reaction as well and if so, was that an intentional decision?
Perennial: That’s so interesting! I certainly think it has its share of wild songs (“Cloak & Dagger”, “Emma Peel”), and then I think within those songs we’re always looking for these surprising left field directions where we can take things. We often left intros, outros, and bridges in particular as rough outlines that we could then fill in via experimentation in the studio.
The overall energy and intensity of the record — that feral quality — was definitely the result of wanting a really kinetic, thrilling album. The fact that it’s 10 songs (our last couple LPs have been 12 songs) emphasizes that. There are a couple spots where you can catch your breath, but other than that it’s really a sprint. We wanted something that was just so electric and, hopefully, compelling.
AP: What can we expect from the live shows for Modernism?
Perennial: It’s really become a balancing act now that we have three albums that sort of reflect the current Perennial Sound (Modernism, Art History, and In The Midnight Hour), all full of songs we really like to play live. So we’ve had to put our thinking caps on to make sure we’ve got a nice variety of new hits and old favorites. Modernism definitely gets the spotlight this time around; I’m very excited to play those songs live, because they’re so urgent and vivid. When a band puts out a new record I want to see them playing it — I feel like you can always sense the energy there, of a band digging into their newest ideas. At the end of the day, our live show is so important to us, so we promise you can expect the same wild, bombastic Perennial Live Experience.
AP: How did the upcoming release shows come together, and anything special planned for them (that you can reveal)?
Perennial: We knew there would be folks who would want to be at these celebrations of the new record, and these four cities/scenes (CT/Western Mass; NYC; DC; Boston) are sort of the original Perennial cities — the towns where we started seeing folks showing up a lot to our shows again and again. So we figured, “Why not have a handful of release shows so all our friends in these scenes can be there?” The same goes for the shows we just played in Seattle and Portland and the UK shows we have coming up.
We’re really excited about the setlist we have figured out for these shows, and there are a few things we’ve never tried before on stage — it will definitely be a special evening, even if you’ve seen us a dozen times.
AP: What has it been like to see your popularity grow through tours of both the UK and the west coast?
Perennial: It has been an absolute dream! The first time we heard our songs being sung back to us in London or Seattle or Edinburgh we were just completely knocked out. That’s why you do this you know? We’ve been working non-stop for half a decade now and it’s just so lovely to see folks digging what we do. Perennial means the absolute world to me — there is simply nothing I’d rather be doing — and the fact that it’s clicking with folks is just amazing.
AP: What are some personal favorite 60’s mod/R&B albums for newer Perennial fans to enjoy?
Perennial: I’ll give you a top 5!
1.) The Who – A Quick One (1966)
2.) Wilson Pickett – The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966)
3.) Otis Redding – Live In Europe (1967)
4.) The Creation – We Are Paintermen (1967)
5.) The Action – The Ultimate Action (Compilation, 1965-1967)
AP: Any Perennial fun facts or stories that Pudding readers might not yet be familiar with?
Perennial: There is a secret fourth member of Perennial named Wasabi the Cat. She’s the one that really pulls the strings. She’s the one with all the big ideas.
Modernism is out on Friday, 9/18, and can be pre-ordered here. Tickets to the show at Deep Cuts are available here.