CHERRY MACHINE

Released: August 18, 2025
11 Tracks + 1 Hidden Track (Unnamed)
Runtime: 45:00
Recorded in Alex’s Bedroom

ALBUM OVERVIEW

Cherry Machine is the debut album by Disabled Parker, released on August 18, 2025, a date chosen intentionally because it is Owen’s birthday. The record marks the moment the band’s identity first solidified—raw, unfiltered, unpolished, unapologetic, and entirely uninterested in fitting into any pre-set mold of what a “debut album” should sound like. Rather than shaping a cohesive concept or carefully constructing a polished sonic identity, Cherry Machine accepts and embraces chaos. It is a collection of whatever Alex and Owen felt like writing at the time, whether acoustic, comedic, abrasive, serious, bluesy, ridiculous, or emotionally charged.

The beauty of Cherry Machine lies in that freedom. It is a snapshot of a very specific era: two musicians sitting in a bedroom, writing songs about anything that came to mind. The album flows unpredictably—from a soft acoustic opener, to a track about a cheap mother, to a two-part lawnmower disaster story, to a seven-minute song about Type 2 diabetes. It never settles. It never slows down. It never tries to be anything other than what it is.

Cherry Machine contains no overarching theme or narrative. Each track stands alone with its own micro-story, tone, and personality. That lack of cohesion becomes the record’s defining characteristic and the foundation of the Disabled Parker sound: humorous, chaotic, sometimes serious, unpredictable, and always completely honest about where it came from.

ALBUM COVER

The Cherry Machine album cover is memorable precisely because of how simple and straightforward it is. There was no long design process, no attempt at symbolism, and no artistic deep dive into the meaning of cherries. Alex and Owen did not sit down and plan a “perfect debut cover.” Instead, they created exactly what felt right: a person taking a bite of a cherry, centered against a bold red background, with the album title and the band name laid over it.

The name “Cherry Machine” itself does not come from a complicated origin. The band chose it simply because they liked the sound of it and the bright visual associations tied to cherries and the color red. The cover reflects this logic. It is direct, loud, visually striking, and unpretentious. It does not attempt to represent anything beyond its own existence, which fits perfectly with the album’s attitude.

Compared to later Disabled Parker covers—which became more layered, symbolic, artistic, and complex—Cherry Machine’s simplicity stands out as a pure representation of the beginning. It is the exact kind of straightforward confidence that defined the early era of the band.

SOUND AND STYLE

Cherry Machine covers a wide spectrum of sounds and moods.

The record opens with a slow acoustic track, immediately followed by a heavier, more aggressive piece.

From there, the album jumps between humor, list-style comedy songs, fictional narratives,

chaotic long titles, blues-influenced sections, and a two-part rock opera about lawnmowers.

The sonic unpredictability is intentional. The album does not follow a genre.

It does not follow a formula. It shifts constantly, refusing to settle into one sound.

In many ways, the inconsistency is the most consistent thing about it.

The variety is supported by the DIY recording environment. The entire album was tracked in

Alex’s bedroom, which is directly acknowledged on physical versions.

The limitations of the space—the imperfect takes, strange microphone moments, spontaneous vocal decisions—became part of the final texture instead of flaws to be fixed.

RECORDING AND PRODUCTION

Every part of Cherry Machine was recorded in Alex’s bedroom. The setting shaped the sound as much as the writing did. There were no studio sessions, no professional engineers, and no equipment beyond what could fit in a room. The result is a raw, close-up texture that later albums would refine but never fully abandon.

Production mistakes were kept intentionally, and some even became highlights. One of the best examples occurs in the track “My Mother Is Not Satisfied With My Father’s,” where Owen suddenly began singing in an exaggerated old-man voice during what was meant to be a temporary take. Instead of discarding it, Alex and Owen kept it, realizing the absurdity enhanced the song rather than harmed it.

This attitude shaped the entire record: if something made them laugh, or feel something, or sounded uniquely imperfect, it stayed.

TRACK BY TRACK

1. Cherry Machine

The album opens with a four-minute acoustic track written entirely by Alex. The lyrics contain only a few references to cherries and have very little to do with the album title, which is part of the humor. It serves as a calm, deceptive introduction before the chaos begins.

2. Mama’s a Cheapskate

A heavier, more energetic track based on Alex’s real mother, who is notoriously frugal and often buys the cheapest or most discounted version of everything. The song exaggerates this trait into a comedic portrait.

3. My Mother Is Not Satisfied With My Father’s

Told from the perspective of a fictional child, the song addresses a failing marriage driven by the mother’s dissatisfaction with the father’s size. The chorus repeats the line about the parents’ impending divorce. This track transitions seamlessly into the next.

4. Penis

The continuation of the previous track. It focuses entirely on the marital conflict described earlier. Despite the ridiculous premise, this track remains one of the band’s most memorable early songs.

5. Broken Chair, Feline Leukemia, Hiroshima and Nagasaki + The Goblin Fentanyl Crisis

A track created specifically to have an absurdly long title. The song is literally about the words in the title, with no deeper meaning and no hidden narrative. It marks the midpoint of the album and is the flip point on cassette editions.

6. What You Can Buy as a Broke College Student

A short, fast, comedic track lasting one minute and twenty-three seconds. It lists the pathetic, cheap items a financially struggling student can afford.

7. What You Can’t Buy as a Homeless Person

The follow-up to the previous track. It continues the list-based comedic format but shifts perspective, becoming darker while maintaining humor.

8. I Broke Out All My Teeth on the Mic

A frantic track describing a disastrous performance injury in which the narrator breaks all their teeth on a microphone. Energetic, messy, and exaggerated.

9. Type 2 Diabetes

The longest piece on the album at seven minutes. Slower, blues-influenced, and more serious. The lyrics describe the daily limitations and emotional weight of diabetes, using vivid imagery that borders on tragic.

10. Lawn Mower Overture, Part 1

Initially meant to be part of a single ten-minute finale, the track was split for the album release. Part 1 tells the story of a neighbor who accidentally fills his lawnmower with diesel fuel, destroying it and spiraling into anger.

11. Lawn Mower Overture, Part 2

Part 2 shifts into a fictional horror-comedy scenario where Alex accidentally starts a lawnmower that unexpectedly runs forward and cuts off Owen’s legs (fictionally). The track revolves around Alex’s guilt, panic, and emotional meltdown. It is dramatically different in tone from Part 1.

12. Hidden Track (Untitled)

An unlisted, unnamed bonus piece included without explanation. Its presence aligns with the album’s chaotic personality. It was never given a name.

FINAL NOTES

Cherry Machine is not a cohesive concept album, nor does it attempt to be. It is a documentation of ideas, jokes, mistakes, experiments, and simple moments in Alex’s bedroom where songs were created because it felt right at the time. That honesty, that lack of restraint, and that willingness to include anything and everything is what makes Cherry Machine stand out as the true beginning of Disabled Parker.