Cute Is What We Aim For is, at this point, the project of frontman Shaant Hacikyan. The band was formed in Buffalo in 2005. Over the years it has released two records, disbanded, re-assembled, disbanded and reformed again. Hacikyan has shuffled through many collaborators.
Over the last 10 years Hacikyan has limited the band’s output to a handful of singles. In 2016 CIWWAF released the single “A Closed Mind With An Open Mouth,” which, as a title, may have tapped perfectly into the spirit of the era. (Not too long after the release of that song Hacikyan experienced some digital contempt for voicing opinions on social media about gender and some other topics.)
The emo-pop band has not changed its sound much despite all of the shifts in personnel. Last year Hacikyan and the current lineup, which is basically a trio featuring two other members from the early days, shifted into gear playing a lot of dates. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the band’s sophomore record, “Rotation.”
See Cute Is What We Aim For at Space Ballroom, 295 Treadwell St., Hamden, on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. $18 to $20. 203-288-6400, spaceballroom.com
