Cheap Girls

Lansing, Michigan-based trio Cheap Girls emerged in 2007 when singer, bassist, and acoustic guitarist Ian Graham joined forces with his brother Ben Graham on drums and percussion along with guitarist Adam Aymor. Their goal was straightforward, roots-oriented rock, and the self-released debut Find Me a Drink Home appeared the next year. Extensive road work soon paved the way for the follow-up My Roaring 20s, issued by Paper + Plastick, the same label that later re-pressed the first album. After sharing a stage with Against Me! in 2010, the two acts embarked on a U.S. tour in 2011; the connection also led to Tom Gabel producing Cheap Girls’ next effort at his newly opened studio. That project, Giant Orange, surfaced on Rise in February 2012 and highlighted the group’s expansive hooks together with their tight interplay across a set of songs already hardened by live performance. Their high-octane, backward-glancing blend of pop and punk sits between the Replacements and Superchunk.