Pom Pom Squad has announced her new album Death Of a Cheerleader, will come out on June 25, 2021 via their new label City Slang Records. The full-length was produced by Produced by Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties and co-produced bandleader Mia Berrin. Along with the news, Pom Pom Squad a new video for album track “Head Cheerleader.”

Of the track, Berrin says that it “was an effort to lean into the overarching trope that makes Pom Pom Squad what it is – almost like parodying myself. Heart shaped lockets and scary cheerleaders and young adult chaos and self discovery and deep ungraceful discomfort. I was also in a really complicated relationship at the time that really pushed me to come face to face with my sexual identity in a way I never had before. I had this realization that the life I was living was designed around receiving attention and validation from men – something I never truly wanted. The result of that realization was like stepping out of an old skin. It changed the way I behaved in every aspect of my life. I was finally making decisions toward my own self actualization instead of for other people’s perception. It was terrifying and exciting and necessary. This song feels like a celebration of the discomfort that comes with stepping into your new skin – your own power.”

Of the video, she adds “The image of laying awake in a grave underneath plastic grass, a painted sky, and flowers growing from these creepy, textured structuresseemed to represent what I wanted out of a full length – something fierce and funny, dreamy, dark, queer… I think the video marks a turning point in my project in the same way it marked a turning point in my life. The song is about accepting yourself radically – I think the video explores that through a really funcampy lens.”

With Shelby Keller (drums), Mari Alé Figeman (bass), and Alex Mercuri (guitar), Mia formed Pom Pom Squad in 2015 and took to the streets of NYC, cutting her teeth playing packed venues alongside the likes of Soccer Mommy, Pronoun and Adult Mom.

With the COVID pandemic changing the rules of how we all live, followed by the wave of protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Mia’s world became more solitary, and she took this time of reflection to pay respect and homage to the people of color who helped lay the groundwork for the musician she is today. The likes of Sade, Billie Holiday, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, all ring a bell. All of these components throughout Mia’s life have bonded together, fortifying a talent that for years has shaken NYC venues, and now is set to shake the world.

Pom Pom Squad
Death Of A Cheerleader
Track Listing
City Slang Records

Soundcheck
Head Cheerleader
Crying
Second That
Cake
Lux
Crimson + Clover
RWL
Forever
Shame Reactions
Drunk Voicemail
This Couldn’t Happen
Be Good
Thank You And Goodnight