Cherl Boyze aka Cheryl Boyce was the singer and bass player of the New York band Nastyfacts. The story of the band begins at St Ann's School in Brooklyn, where a
few teenage kids who excelled at their instruments got together to form a
band. Originally known as Pandemonium, the group contained the four
core members of Nastyfacts (Cherl, Brad, Genji and Jeff) plus a keyboard
player named Val. After about a year of playing mostly covers, the band
was forced to change their name after discovering a signed band was
already using Pandemonium.
The newly coined Nastyfacts, now without keyboards, quickly built a NY following playing amateur nights at CBGB's and earned themselves regular spots at Max's Kansas City and other hot spots while not only astonishing crowds with their incredible musicianship, but also by how young they were. When most of the members were around 14 or 15 years old, they went in the studio to record their one and only EP. Although the band had a solid 45 minutes of original material by that point, these were the only songs that ever got recorded.
The EP opens with the title track, a tongue-in-cheek rag on drunk driving. Filled with engine-revving and car-crashing sounds, Boyce sings “I’m not as drunk as I look/I’m not as stoned as I seem/I’d rather dance than read a book/I’d rather drive my car than clean.” The lyrics are filled with classic-punk nihilism, as well as Cheap Trick-like hooks and guitars.
The EP hits a little bit closer to more powerpop material in the itching-for-love classic “Get To You.” It really showcases the brilliant versatility in Boyce’s vocals, and has a great chorus of shared vocals between her and guitarist Range Tischler.
The EP’s final track opens with Boyce demanding “Okay, stay where you are, we’re gonna do one more,” and then we’re presented with the incredible love song “Crazy 'Bout You.” The song’s full of attitude, and has a terrific chorus in which Boyce sings variables on the song’s title, and Range and other guitarist Brad Craig sing “Yeah!” and “Me too!” at the end of every “I’m crazy about you.” Additionally, the song has one wicked guitar solo that elevates the song to stadium status with it’s 80s-reverb.
With guitars similar to both the Buzzcocks and Cheap Trick, Nastyfacts ultimately had enough potential to be a huge underground success. The band had regular gigs at CBGB’s, were pretty pivotal among New York’s punk/new wave scene in the early-80s, and even were a regular play on John Peel’s show on BBC Radio One.
Cheryl Boyce is a poet and teaching artist. Her collections of poetry include Raw Air (2000), Night When Moon Follows (2000), Convincing the Body (2005), and Arrival (2017).
