Cleavage XOXO Review
Cleavage
XOXO
FNA Records
2026
Since we’re talking the Jersey Glam/Sleaze band Cleavage this week, it’s only fitting that we talk about the second release from FNA, “XOXO,” too.
There’s a pretty vast difference between “XOXO” and “15 Gets Ya 20.” On “XOXO,” the band feels much more comfortable in their own skin, and you can hear it right from the first track. From there, it just keeps building with each song. In other words, “XOXO” is the more well-rounded album, and this is where Cleavage really sounds like they were coming into their own, especially during the first half of the record.
They attack every track from all sides, and everything is well played and well produced. Fellow musicians will know exactly the feeling I’m talking about here. Everything is clicking just the right way, and you’re sitting there thinking, “Holy shit, I hope the tape is still rolling.” Of course, you can tell that not all of these songs were recorded during the same session. The sound quality dips here and there on a few tracks, but the feeling, talent and ability never flinch.
On this effort, you hear a band that understood exactly what and who they were. They’d seen some shit, learned the dos and don’ts, and it shows in the songwriting, arrangements and overall approach. I’m always baffled that bands like this didn’t cross over, but when an album like this drops into my lap, I’m even more dumbfounded. There isn’t a song on this album that couldn’t have gotten some seriously great radio play back in the day. The hooks, melodies and big choruses are all over this thing, and they’re built to sink their teeth into your brain and stay there.
From everything I’ve been able to find as far as track listings go, I’m not seeing where a lot of the material here was released outside of the 2013 CDR release. If you ask me, I prefer “XOXO” over “15 Gets Ya 20,” but given how much I’ve enjoyed the band and all of these songs, you really can’t have one without the other.
FNA has a package where you can pick up both for a song, and that’s the ticket right there. If you dig Glam/Sleaze and you’ve got a soft spot for those bands that should’ve gotten a hell of a lot more attention than they did, give Cleavage a listen. This will go nicely on the Sleaze shelves next to Wrathchild UK, Tigertailz and D’molls for sure.
Standouts – “I Make All The Rules”, “Asylum”, “Wild Horses”, “All Of My Love”, and the rendition of “It’s Not Goodbye Forever”.