The Philly-rooted indie rockers of Church Girls have been booked and busy. When the group finished a string of opening gigs for Streetlight Manifesto last year, they embarked on a new recording project. Members Mariel Beaumont, Mitchell Layton, Julien Varnier and Vince Vullo journeyed down south to two North Carolina studios — Fidelitorium Recordings in Kernersville and SeventyFiveSound in Winston-Salem — to record their new five-track EP Nightmare Nights.
Unapologetically loud and angsty, Nightmare Nights is a collection of the band’s favorite and most fierce songs to date. The tracks were masterfully mixed by engineer Adam Cichocki, enforcing the power that Church Girls packed into these pieces. Composed of cathartic clusters of melodic guitar and harmonious belting, lead vocalist Mariel Beaumont says, “Nightmare Nights’ is about feeling jerked around in a relationship, especially when you’re too young to stand up for yourself.” Their song “Death Wish” embellishes this theme in a perfect package of tuneful distortion and echoey vocals. The EP also features two recordings of “I Hate This House,” an original version and one remixed by producer and engineer Scott Solter, who adds a contorted electronic twist to the group’s classic punk sound.
Kicking off their upcoming Nightmare Nights tour, Church Girls will make an appearance for this year’s Philly Music Fest. Playing Alongside Algernon Cadwallader, Knifeplay, and Huey, The Cosmonaut, you can catch them on Saturday, October 14th at Underground Arts. The group will then be playing shows on their way to and from their scheduled set at FEST in Gainesville, Florida, a multi-day independent music festival. More information on their tour can be found at their Linktree, more on Philly Music Fest can be found at the festival website; listen to Nightmare Nights below.