Yum Yum Cult
Yum Yum Cult
Palmer Shah admits that he’d rather remain quiet about his struggles with mental illness than be treated differently by the people he interacts with on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s not something I really open up about, despite it having a major impact on my life and my personal and professional relationships,” Shah says.
'It Kills Me' by Yum Yum Cult
Shah’s confession suddenly gives the title of his band’s debut album, It Kills Me It Really Does, a much heavier weight. His indie-rock group Yum Yum Cult has been working on this album for a few years now, and it’s no surprise that a collection of songs that were written over a span of years that introduced a global pandemic while Shah was also starting a family would explore the human psyche.
“I wrote (these songs) as a tongue-in-cheek blend of my own personal perspective as far as progression and coping goes, as well as the way I feel I am perceived by others at times,” Shah says.
Shah doesn’t sugarcoat the reason that his indie-rock group Yum Yum Cult took so long to release its debut album. The first single off of the album, “Up in the Tenement,” was released back in January of 2019.
“We’ve been busy as shit,” Shah says. “This past year it was pretty difficult to find time to get all four of us in a room together.”
Endeavors of Their Own
“Been busy” includes performances at Summerfest as well as Bayview’s Chill on the Hill event series, as well as band members Sean Anderson, Myles Coyne and Charli Celenza having musical endeavors of their own.
It Kills Me It Really Does winds its way through genres over the course of its nine tracks, maintaining a mostly indie-rock sound, but at times pushing its boundaries into the realms of punk, dream pop and psychedelic rock.
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Opener “The Catalyst” is the longest track on the album and invites listeners in with a hazy introduction before quickly propelling into a rhythmically driven bop, as Shah flexes his vocal trills and sings, “I can count my blessings/Using only my hands/Well as of late I’ve been distracted/From fingers one through ten.” We’re eventually treated to a Doors-esque keyboard solo, where the song momentarily feels like it’s going to fall apart. Instead, it pulls back and gives way to another hazy confessional where Shah admits he “hasn’t been answering his calls in a while.”
Aggressive Delivery
The tone shifts on “What I Do in the Night,” where the jangly guitars of the first two tracks are traded for a heavy fuzz, and Shah becomes more aggressive in his vocal delivery. But things slow down immediately afterwards with the chorus soaked “If Talk Is All It Is,” where Shah croons about the pros and cons of a blossoming romance between friends. The shift in genre and tone between the two tracks feels like “What I Do in the Night” is an evening of partying, and “If Talk Is All It Is” is the cloudy next morning, where you’re left contemplating your actions from the night prior.
On “Push That Rock Up That Cliff,” Shah relates to the agony of Sisyphus, the Greek mythology character who was sentenced by Zeus to forever push a boulder up a hill in Hades. He compares that struggle to his time playing backing guitar for another musician where the chemistry for writing music just wasn’t there.
“Many of the stanzas in that song were improvised intentionally to represent the incoherency of our musical communication,” Shah says.
It’s tough to recommend just one song off of It Kills Me It Really Does. Yum Yum Cult have crafted a collection of songs that are so different from one another, yet somehow manage to fit together like pieces from mismatched puzzles. But this is where Yum Yum Cult truly shines. They’re a jam band —but not one that wants to bore you to death with 15-minute-long guitar solos. They’re a jam band that’s jamming on genres, presenting a charcuterie board of rock-and-roll subgenres.
Shape-Shifting Indie Rock
It Kills Me It Really Does is a shapeshifting indie-rock exploration of mental health and the human psyche. It metaphorically falls apart so abruptly and aggressively with its heavier tracks, just like we all do from time to time, but it always picks itself back up with its groovier jams. It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions, where the listener is barely given time to fix their wind-blown hair before the next ride begins.
On the final track, “Wednesday’s Brevity,” Shah sings about catching up with an old flame at a dive bar.
“(It’s about) the experience of naturally drifting apart from someone as life pulls in opposite directions,” Shah says. “And while it’s bittersweet, it’s not a sad occasion.”
“Wednesday’s Brevity” is a fitting end to an album that Shah has been working on for at least three years now. It’s a bittersweet moment to finally be able to release these songs as Shah and the band are looking forward to finally starting to work on their next release. But for years now, these songs have defined Yum Yum Cult as a band. It’ll be a strange feeling to move on from them.
“It’s kind of like looking through a scrapbook,” Shah says. “Each song feels like a completely different version of myself at a different time in my life.”
And if you’ve struggled with your mental health at all in the past few years, like many of us have, you’re bound to find a little bit of yourself in that scrap book as well.
