bronx cheerleader

Scott Warren Sauder Eron Stroud Tom Tracey Joe Lapinski

Bronx Cheerleader is the brainchild of S.D. Warren, former vocalist, guitar player and founding member of defunct Toronto indie-rockers Pope Factory. The CMJ Music Marathon Festival Guide once tagged Warren's former outfit as "smart, resonating alterna-pop" while in other circles they gained a reputation for writing difficult, quirky rock music. The dissolution of Pope Factory during the band's ill-fated 2001 U.S. tour, from which two members of the band never returned, had lasting effects on the band's frontman.

An exodus from Toronto and music in general soon followed in late 2001. Living in self-imposed exile in rural eastern Ontario, Warren didn't pick up a guitar for nearly two years. The time to reflect allowed the embattled songwriter to gain a new lease on life, music and the direction of his craft. Shedding the prog-rock trappings of his former band, Warren embraced his natural melodicism and pop sensibilities which in the past had been subverted by the sonic maelstrom of the Pope Factory sound.

With new songs being penned at a brisk pace and a sense of rejuvenation afoot, a fortuitous meeting between old friends would further sow the seeds of a musical rebirth. Sauder, original drummer and founding member of Pope Factory, had parted ways with the band in 1998. In the summer of 2004, Warren happened upon his former bandmate at a Modest Mouse gig in Toronto. By the time Isaac Brock and Co. had exited the stage that night, Warren had coaxed Sauder out of retirement and Bronx Cheerleader was born.

With Sauder behind the drum kit and with a song of his own ready to contribute, long time mate and indestructible musical force Eron Stroud of Palooka soon joined the Bronx Cheerleader line-up, providing bass, keyboards, and utter devastation. Rounding out the line-up is Thomas Tracey, who takes on lead guitar duties while not co-hosting segments on the Shopping Channel.

Bronx Cheerleader's debut album, Tough Guy Cliches, finds S.D. Warren testing new waters with kinder, gentler song stylings and yielding memorable results. The new album is a triumphant return to the musical arena for the D.I.Y.-minded Warren, who recorded the album's twelve tracks himself and also designed the album's artwork. Now, after a four-year hiatus the reclusive singer/songwriter is back, and making uncompromising, unapologetic pop music.

As a thematic piece Tough Guy Cliches is a playful homage to classic gangster films. It's also a tribute to a simpler time when criminals were at the very least charming, flamboyent, and more honest with who they were than the faceless, white-collar, Enron-era backroom gangsters of today. Insidious corruption and cutthroat, strong-arm tactics never sounded so sweet.

Discography = Tough Guy Cliches (not yet released)

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