Another Dose of Nostalgia

It’s proven to be a smart business move for all of these semi-popular indie alt-rock bands from the 90s to have revivals more than a decade later.  They re-release their records, sell a bunch of merch, plan a national tour and only have to write a few new songs. It worked for Dinosaur Jr. It worked for Guided By Voices. And now it’s about to work for Chavez. The group from New York has re-released their first two full-length albums: 1993’s Gone Glimmering and 1995’s Ride the Fader.

So where exactly did they go? Not even the band mates really know. It certainly wasn’t as if the music was too powerful or too loud for its day. They toured with big bands and even got recognized in one Beavis and Butthead episode, as the two famously sat together on their gross couch and watched music videos all day, including “Break Up Your Band” from Gone Glimmering (but Beavis and Butthead always listened to weird shit). Chavez kind of just faded away into the 90s progressive-rock market, only to come back in 2006 and then to fade away again until re-releasing these records. But that isn’t to say they’ve been doing nothing. Frontman and guitarist Matt Sweeney has been in a slew of projects, including pairing up with Billy Corgan for Zwan. Guitarist Clay Tarver is also a screenwriter and bassist Scott Marshall dabbles in the film world too.

Glimmering’s “The Ghost By The Sea” still has that amazing gritty sound to it, even now, when it’s played over your good speakers and not your old crappy boom box speakers. “Flight 96” off Ride The Fader is five and a half minutes of the popular grainy electric guitar riffs we heard so much of in the 90s. They took a piece of our hearts, and it’s nice to have it back.

Some of us may not have even heard of Chavez back when they were a full-functioning band. Even so, listening to Gone Glimmering and Ride The Fader now takes us back to a happy place. No matter which record you listen to, you’re going to hear loud guitars and loud drums that, without some engineering, would completely overpower the vocals. So grungy, so awesome.