Chemtrails

Chemtrails make shimmery noise pop with a discontented spirit and a complexion that combines surf, punk, and garage rock inspirations. The band’s full-length debut, Calf of the Sacred Cow, arrived in 2018.
Formed in London by singer/songwriter/guitarist Mia Lust, guitarist/singer Laura Orlova, bassist/singer Laura Sumner, keyboardist Ian Jubb, and drummer Sam Neubär, Chemtrails signed with Stockholm label PNKSLM Recordings (aka Punk Slime) in 2016. The label released their debut EP, Love in a Toxic Wasteland, that December. Another EP, Headless Pin Up Girl, followed in May 2017, with personal lyrics that addressed Lust’s outlook as a transgender woman. Still recording in Lust’s living room, Chemtrails made their full-length debut in February 2018 with Calf of the Sacred Cow. That December, they returned with the EP Cuckoo Spit. Continuing a trend toward increasingly catchier songs, the group’s second full-length, Peculiar Smell of the Inevitable, followed in April 2020. By then the lineup consisted of Lust, Orlova, bassist Ian Kane, keyboardist Dianne Velvet, and drummer Adrian Hammersley. ~ Marcy Donelson