It’s hard to pull off a full length in hardcore.
Eventually, after a few tracks, all your moves have been shown. There’s nothing exciting or novel for the listener.
In 2018, Chicago hardcore band C.H.E.W. released Feeding Frenzy, one of the best records to come out of Chicago in the last decade. It contains the old school, West Coast, hardcore energy you would associate with Dead Kennedys’ Plastic Surgery Disasters, with some unforeseen twists, such as the dissonant horn section to end the long winding, closing track.
It was a fully realized statement that announced to the world: “Here we are.”
A few years later and now C.H.E.W has now released a follow up EP, In Due Time.
It’s somehow even more manic and freewheeling than their full length.
Every member is trying their hardest to pack as many ideas as possible within the compact spaces they’ve created.
Guitarist Ben Rudolph’s chords are in constant movement, trying to keep up with the drummer Johnathan G. Vocalist Doris Jeane is up to her usual snarling vocals that never ceases to be boring. It’s as good as an introduction into the all encompassing world that is C.H.E.W.
I could come up with more descriptions to describe the noise, but it would be of no service to you. Press play on this nine-minute EP and pace furiously in your apartment, as you try to wade away your insanity for another day.
Get It
- Iron Lung Records (Vinyl)
- Bandcamp (Digital)
Tagged: c.h.e.w.
