You have to respect a band that makes an entire album about Hamm’s beer. That’s indeed what the Chugs did. Hailing from the Midwest, The Chugs is a punk band that centers their music around Hamm’s beer. They have an unwavering devotion to America’s Premium Classic, immersing themselves in its consumption and becoming consumed by it. On May 12th, their debut six-pack titled The Cancept Album was released through Wally Opus Records. The Chugs personify the essence of this golden brew and are now embarking on a journey towards the enchanting realm of sky blue waters. The band comprises Scott Wambach (previously associated with The Blanks and The Room recording studio), Brian Harding (from Sellout Skateboards) and Sam Kuban (known for his involvement with Swamp Eyes, The Stockholm Robot and Lead & Lye).
The first song is entitled “Sky Blue Waters” and starts with a quick surf rock guitar melody that settles into a fast moving garage rock inspired riff. I loved the sound of a beer can cracking. It’s a cathartic, visceral and unapologetically fun song completely free of pretense. The vocal harmonies sound full and huge almost Queen-esque. It’s just a hard hitting song that feels like it’s meant to be experienced live.
The band goes full throttle on “Public Transit” which is intense all around. The song reminded me of a band called Blood Brothers. It’s just an unrelenting assault. There’s a sense of urgency here and I also thought the spoken word was done just about perfectly. What an explosion of tension this song has. It gets to boiling points where you can’t imagine it getting any more intense.
They follow that with dreamy chords on “Morning Beer” which is a completely different aesthetic at first. The band embraces this shoegaze-y sound mixed with a ’50s pop style. I can’t say I was expecting this but it works and shows their versatility. The song builds more and more with intensity till there’s nowhere else to go.
“Breakfast of Hammpions” sounded somewhere between hardcore and pop punk. It’s arguably the most single-worthy song. The hook is the kind where you can sing along with the hook after you hear it. That being said they utilize dissonance on the verse, change BPM and have an ending that reminded me of NOFX.
The band continues to bring it on “(I Think We’re) Going to Prison” which sort of continues with the NOFX type of energy from the ’90s. One clear difference is The Chugs somehow incorporate this ’50s pop aesthetic on certain sections which is brilliant.
They close with “Chug With You Forever” and it is super catchy and another song that shouts single. I was reminded of Weezer here but a little more hardcore.
This might be a silly concept but this band is a force of nature. They rock hard, the delivery is top notch and they meld many different genres together quite successfully. Two glowing thumbs up.
