A female trio from London, doing a mixture of grunge and garage rock sounds – the basic facts about the band Berries already feels interesting. I received their debut album How We Function from a promotion agency and felt to give them a deeper listen. Release date is 8th July 2022.
Berries – About The Artists
The Berries have been “really” founded in 2018. There have been some previous releases, though. The trio is lead by Holly, who is the singer and guitarist, but also the songwriter of the band. The other band members are Lauren (bass) and Lucie (drums). In 2018, they released the four track EP Lies. Thereafter, the band had some interesting gigs as a support act. In May and June 2022, for example, they supported The Subways on their German tour.
Berries – How We Function – Track by Track
The twelve track album lasts 40 minutes.
1. We Are Machines
The first words on the album are in fact in… French. However, the ladies are quickly changing to their mother tongue and doing a nice indie rock track. I like the cheekiness of the song, which has a touch of punk to me. The key message does neither sound French nor Greek to me: We Are Machines – That’s how we function.
2. Spiral
Spiral is a nice, rocking song, which is nicely driven by Holly on the guitar and drummer Lucie. One of the songs with the strongest garage-style characters on this album to me. The chorus nicely stays in your mind as well.
3. Basic Tables
Basic Tables is nicely driven by the bassy grunge groove of the song. However, it is not just Lauren, who is adding her part to a great listen. The song has this pleasant simplicity of a mature school band, but on the other hand is a very precise write. Finally, this leads to an interesting listen.
4. The Expert
The Expert has been one of the single releases of the album already. The song works with a very nice, wide arrangement. I like the contrasting guitar lines, but also the background vocals. Nice.
5. Discreetly
The press kit names Discreetly “different to where we are heading but they still represent us as a band”. I like this kind of sound as well. Very nice work on the guitar side and good melodic elements.
6. Haze
Haze is a bit of slower and comes with a nice garage sound. Nonetheless, the song does not catch me too much. Just a bit too brave in my point of view.
7. Wall Of Noise
The dark bass groove of Wall Of Noise and the nice electric guitar line on top of it leads to a very special touch. One of my most favored listens.
8. Siren
Not quite a Siren, but the instrumental parts of this song illustrate nicely, how well these ladies are able to work with their instruments. Great sound, which stays in your mind.
9. Grow
Grow does not come that much with the dark sound of garage and grunge at the beginning. However, later in the song, the ninth song feels much more like the key genres of the band. I like the contrast to Holly’s rather high voice and the deep sound of the bass and guitar riffs.
10. Strength In Numbers
Again, I like the grunge-alike groove of Strength In Numbers. The song is not a bad one, but I would love to have some new, additional aspects of Berries’ music.
11. Copy
Copy has such a big contrast between the rather dark sound of the verses and the happy, uplifting chorus. This song almost feels like two ones, which are mixed forth and back. Great instrumental part again.
12. Your Mind
The guitar chord-driven Your Mind closes How We Function with a very own style. Nonetheless, you feel the dark rock touch of grunge in this one. Cool way to finalize the debut album of the British artists.
Berries – How We Function – Spotify
Here is the album on Spotify:
Berries – How We Function – My View
I like How We Function. I feel it is cool, it introduces a very nice signature style of music. However, there is also a certain similarity in the songs. I would love to listen to a wider variety of sounds and melodies. Nice one, but more far away from the very top ratings than Holly, Lauren and Lucie should be.
London Top Pick! Reviews
Here are all my postings about London, which lead to a Top Pick! review:

Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge London (LHR) Terminal 3

Gatwick Aviation Museum

Exploring Regent’s Canal with London Waterbus Company

ibis London Shepherd’s Bush

Yes – Mirror To The Sky

Puttshack White City (London)

Sofitel London Heathrow (Terminal 5)

Crazy Putt London

Billy Idol – The Cage EP

Alan Parsons – From the New World

Premier Inn London Paddington Basin

Epsilon Hotel London-Stratford

Premier Inn London Gatwick Airport South

Skinny Lister – A Matter of Life and Love

Elton John – The Lockdown Sessions

Billy Idol – The Roadside EP

The Vaccines – Back In Love City

Gary Kemp – INSOLO

Adrian Smith & Richie Kotzen – Smith / Kotzen

The Dust Coda – Mojo Skyline

Thunder – All The Right Noises

Riding the London Eye

Conrad Hotel London St. James

Charles Dickens Museum London

Majestica – A Christmas Carol

Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Terminal 2/3

Pullman London St Pancras

Air New Zealand Boeing B777 Premium Economy from London to Los Angeles

De Havilland Aircraft Museum (London Colney)

TWG – My Favorite Tea Brand

Tutankhamun – Treasures of the Pharao (Paris)

Country 2 Country in London 2019

Danielle Hope at “The Crazy Coqs” (London, 17th Feb 2019)

BA 1 – British Airways’ Most Exclusive Intercontinental Experience
All “classic” blog posts
No reviews – just debating and certain topics – these are my “traditional” blog posts in the categories Just blogging, Just blogging on music and Sports Blogging:

Food I Had Onboard XII (Late October 2023 – Mid-November 2023)

Naughty or Nice? – The Flyctory.com Country Christmas Playlist 2023

Country To Country is back in Central Europe – Here are the Main Acts

Food I Had Onboard XI (Mid September 2023 – October 2023)

The Privilege of the Loo – On Bathroom Distribution in Airplanes

Rock of Ages – 2024 International Dates of the Musical

Thank You, Rohan Bopanna!

Food I Had Onboard X (July 2023 til early September 2023)

Praise The Underdogs – I Look Back to the European Soccer Competition Qualifications

Heart to Heart – Semmel Concerts Introduces the Songwriters Round to Germany

Home is where the heart is – My Twelve Favorite Cities of the World

NHL Schedule 2023-24 released – Here are my suggested Trips

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – Atmosphere & Impressions

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – A Preview

Food I Had Onboard IX (Mid-May 2023 til June 2023)

Rock of Ages UK Tour – A Personal Farewell and Thanks

My Traveler’s Thoughts About… Renting a Car and Driving in Iceland

Food I Had Onboard VIII (April 2023 til Mid-May 2023)

My Favorite Eurovision Song Contest Songs

Traveling on Iceland’s Ring Road (Reprise)

Travel all Germany for 49 EUR a Month? The New Deutschland Ticket

Rock of Ages Opening Night – Red Carpet Impressions

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Food I Had Onboard VII (mid-February 2023 til March 2023)

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Jim “Kimo” West is playing the very first German Weird Al Show tonight – he is back with “Nacht der Gitarren” in Fall

Food I Had Onboard VI (December 2022 til mid-February 2023)

Davis Cup Qualifiers – A Bad Day For (Men’s) Doubles Tennis

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Flyctory.com – My Favorite Albums / EPs 2022

Flyctory.com – My Favorite Songs 2022

How I would love European Flight Compensation Regulation to Change

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Food I Had Onboard V (September 2022 til November 2022)

Loyalty Programs – Are We Too Committed To Stay Rational?

Weird Al Yankovic is touring Europe 2023 – Tour Dates and Travel Hints

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Food I Had Onboard IV (May 2022 til August 2022)

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Food I Had Onboard III (Mar 2022 til April 2022)

Currently my favorite animal: Leon The Lobster

Food I Had Onboard II (Nov 21 til Mar 2022)

No Business as Usual – but I felt it is right to continue to share the World with you…

Beijing 2022 – No Flyctory.com Medal Count, Just Thoughts…

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Flyctory.com Best Ones 2021

Flyctory.com – My Favorite Albums / EPs 2021

Flyctory.com – My Favorite Songs 2021

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Ho Ho Ho – The Flyctory.com Country Christmas Playlist 2021

Food I Had Onboard (Oct 2021 til Nov 2021)

The Hits of the Trips – My Summer 2021 in Music

My Hotel Checklist – Some Services Too Many Overnights are still failing at

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The Flyctory.com-Style Medal Count of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

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The Twelve Best Flights Of My Life (… so far)

Music Publications – Does Nowadays The Length Still Matter?

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(Over) 400 Media Reviews on Flyctory.com – your most popular ones

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Flyctory.com – My Favorite Songs 2020

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C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 1 (06.03.2020) – Splitter

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Flyctory.com on Spotify and Amazon Music Unlimited

A Preview to Country Music Concerts (European Tours)

Very Important Postings – January to June 2019

CMA Fest 2019 – My Meet & Greets

Visiting CMA Fest 2019

My Favorite CMA Fest Songs 2019

Christina Taylor & Carolyn Miller – Two Upcoming Country Artists

CMA Fest 2019 – Fan Events with Cassadee Pope and Jana Kramer

Country Music Concert Summer 2019 in Germany – a small Boom?

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My Favorite Country 2 Country Songs 2019

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My Favorite Songs 2018

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Very Important Postings – Flyctory.com’s 1st Half 2018

Flyctory.com’s Introduction on Mileage Pooling

Atlanta 1996 – 22 Years later

Ode to my Superhero – Leander Paes

My favourite Country 2 Country 2018 songs

My Medal Count Winner 2018: Canada
