In the swirling chaos of 2025’s political upheavals and social unraveling, San Francisco duo chokecherry arrives like a much-needed gut punch wrapped in lush harmonies. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Izzie Clark and vocalist/bassist E. Scarlett Levinson, the band has announced their debut full-length, Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls, set for release on November 14 via an as-yet-unrevealed label. To herald this milestone, they’ve unleashed the video for their angular new single “Major Threat,” a gritty departure that channels the raw fury of punk’s past while staring down the absurdities of modern life.
Major Threat
Listen to Major Threat on Spotify. Song · chokecherry · 2025
While chokecherry has built a reputation for weaving intricate, atmospheric soundscapes, “Major Threat” – a sly nod to hardcore pioneers Minor Threat – strips things back to something fiercer and more immediate. It’s a jarring pivot: all snarling riffs, urgent screams, and a bridge that erupts into the band’s signature layered vocals before twisting into a final, bitter revelation. The track captures that fleeting sting of rejection, the kind that loops endlessly in your brain, only to resolve in the quiet admission that being discarded might just be a mercy.
“I grew up on heavy surf punk – hello, Southern California – and this track brings me back to 2016-era mosh pits at the Teragram Ballroom in L.A. or the Velvet Jones in Santa Barbara,” Clark shares, her words pulling listeners straight into the sweat-soaked fray. Vocally, she draws from Brendan Yates of Turnstile and Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, infusing the song with a propulsive rage born from feeling tossed aside. The video, co-directed by the band and shot on grainy VHS in a whirlwind few days, embodies their DIY ethos. It’s a satirical skewering of the 21st-century dating hellscape – think awkward swipes, ghosting ghouls, and the eternal scroll of despair – all delivered with a wink and a middle finger.
Levinson echoes the sentiment, positioning “Major Threat” as a portal to chokecherry’s live-wire energy. “It’s one of the few currently recorded chokecherry tracks that really allows listeners to dip their toes into our live energy,” she says. “This includes mosh pits, screaming, and running into the crowd mid-song. It’s a direct homage to the scenes that shaped us and continue to do so, calling on inspirations like Turnstile and Mannequin Pussy.” She unpacks the song’s emotional core: that toxic craving for what’s poisonously unavailable, the hurt that “drives you crazy, but in the end, getting left is probably for the best.” It’s punk therapy, set to a soundtrack of controlled chaos.
But Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls isn’t just one track’s outburst; it’s a 10-song tapestry threading the personal with the panoramic. Produced by the powerhouse trio of Chris Coady (best known for his work with Beach House and Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Christopher Grant, and Zach Tuch, the album distills the duo’s eclectic roots: childhood rock ‘n’ roll obsessions, ’90s post-rock and alt explorations, hardcore dives, queer anthems, even metal edges, all marinated in the intimate, genre-blending small shows of the Bay Area. The result is a sonic snapshot of San Francisco’s vibrant underbelly in 2025 – a city pulsing with political fury, empathy’s erosion, and the raw ache of what it means to feel human amid the apocalypse.
“The album isn’t about heartbreak over an individual – some of it is – but it’s from the state of the world,” Levinson explains. “That’s what it is. It’s about heartbreak over the loss of childhood and the imagined future that you might have had when you were young, because that doesn’t exist. It’s actively been taken away from all of us and everything is being stripped before our very eyes, constantly, every single day.” Across tracks like the brooding “Porcelain Warrior,” the shimmering “Pretty Things,” and the titular closer “Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls,” chokecherry navigates dichotomies: introspective whispers against panoramic roars, tender confessions laced with intensity, post-rock drift meeting shoegaze haze. It’s a fierce plea for the empathetic humanity that’s vanishing from our feeds and streets – a reminder that in this cruel world, feeling it all is the ultimate act of resistance.
| Track Listing |
|---|
| 1. “Porcelain Warrior” |
| 2. “Major Threat” |
| 3. “Pretty Things” |
| 4. “Secrets” |
| 5. “Goldmine” |
| 6. “Part Of You” |
| 7. “You Love It When” |
| 8. “Oblivion” |
| 9. “February” |
| 10. “Ripe Fruit Rots and Falls” |
To bring this ripe rot to the masses, chokecherry is hitting the road for their first-ever full North American headline tour, joined by special guests The Sewing Club. The jaunt launches with a triumphant West Coast record release weekend, featuring hometown heroes Pure Hex for added Bay Area flavor. Kicking off November 14 at San Francisco’s Bottom of the Hill, the run snakes through L.A., Santa Ana, and beyond, wrapping December 21 at Salt Lake City’s Kilby Court. Expect sweat, screams, and those unforgettable harmonies that make chokecherry more than just a band – they’re a mirror to our frayed edges.
Chokecherry Fall 2025 North American Tour Dates With The Sewing Club, unless noted
- 11/14 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill * (Record Release w/ Pure Hex)
- 11/15 – Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon * (Record Release w/ Pure Hex)
- 11/16 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room * (Record Release w/ Pure Hex)
- 11/29 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
- 11/30 – Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
- 12/2 – Dallas, TX – Three Links
- 12/3 – Austin, TX – 29th St Ballroom
- 12/5 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
- 12/6 – Nashville, TN – Cannery Hall
- 12/7 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
- 12/9 – Philadelphia, PA – Warehouse on Watts
- 12/10 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery
- 12/11 – Queens, NY – TV Eye
- 12/12 – Cambridge, MA – Sonia
- 12/13 – Montreal, QC – Cabaret Foufounes
- 12/14 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck Bar
- 12/16 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
- 12/17 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge
- 12/18 – Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall
- 12/20 – Denver, CO – Marquis
- 12/21 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
