Artist description Cooly-ass dogs break it down to make your ass feel tickly good!

Music Style Power Pop/Sugar Thrash Rock

Musical Influences Dinosaur Jr., KISS, Madonna

Similar Artists Dinosaur Jr., Foo Fighters, Sublime, Tom Waits

Artist History Once there was a large mass of rock and fire; then came the explosion. Later, creatures walked from the sea. Sometime after that four guys found each other to make sweet, sweet rock music.

Group Members Chris Merenda, Nick Goulas, Stephen Laroche, Hunting Howell

Instruments Vox, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Thrash-Clarinet

Albums Super Spin Punch

Press Reviews Sound Review of Super Spin Punch, Chewy By Butch Heilshorn Showcase Music Reviewer STRINGTH@aol.com Tom Waits used to be a real Seacoast enthusiast, in fact he has a son who's going to UNH and living in Durham. Chris Merenda inherited some of his (secret) dad's raspy Bowery brogue, a bit of the anti-voice. Clearly this entire story is most likely entirely false, except for the voice part. Chewy has burst on to the local scene with all the vim and vinegar this neighborhood could hope for! Riding a new wave of sound with bands like Massachusetts phenoms the Sheila Divine, pop music is once again being reinvented. By reassembling the familiar they have produced something pretty damn unique, interesting, and not without a sense of humor. Mr. Merenda and his cohorts have arrived - but will anyone get to notice? "Play It As It Lies" is rife with Waits but isn't a Waits rip-off. This nugget rides on a spunky C&W/reggae beat, with guitars and keys and some perty background vocals. It seems to be about taking life as it comes and being angry at authority and "...just like me/they wanna take the mini to the max." Get it? It's sort of that Arc Angel Michael Stipe style free association kind of lyric that communicates feelings more than thoughts. Merenda's scratchy voice, the scratchy guitars play the perfect foil to the smooth organ and slick drums. We go pop "mettle" next with "Hip Hop Hooray." There is a nice buffed metal sheen to this one as the now greased-up vocals soar. It's a muscular rocker that exclaims "can't I get some extra points for style these days/you always take my sloppy side." What's it about? Who cares, it rages on and it's cool. And then, just when you have 'em pegged as a good hard band they go soft with "Weak." A nice contrast on this mellow acoustic lead number in which Chris pleads "hang what's left for me on the front porch when I grow weak." It's pretty and it works. The fourth tune is "Two Sh*t's," your basic evil ex-girlfriend rant set to some appropriately agitated music. He sings that he's over her but clearly that ain't the case - he's got some feelings left and they aren't romantic in the least. Despite the pissed off tone this straight up power pop is energetic and infectious. It's the last song of the EP but, what's this, six more "bonus" songs? Er, ah, but that's 10 songs - what's going on? Regardless "Nachos Grande" is an instrumental that really cooks over what sounds like a cheesy drum machine. It's a great low-key bass 'n' guitar workout that's more folk than rock. "Place To Go" is Chris and his guitar and begins with a silly/cool vocal scat. He's moved out of HER place and is in need of a home. "Sombrero" starts with engaging synth and guitar - welcome to the twilight zone. The restrained vocals and spacey music creates yet another successful new mood. Then to further obfuscate, the last tune is actually two. There is a huge chunk of dead space in the middle, literally minutes, after which you are treated to the first song Chris ever wrote about a Periwinkle (a small marine creature?) named Bill, an absurdly touching bar room kinda tear jerker. The only criticism I can muster about Super Spin Punch is that it's a bit self-indulgent on the "singer with his guitar" type tunes. That aside Chewy ought to be a musical force to be reckoned with. It's a swell musical mutt of a debut that features more than the standard few high points you're likely to find on your big label/big star release. Buy your copy now because it just might be worth lots after the right big-Whigs catch a whiff - particularly of Chris Merenda. Sure, the guy on the cover of this is punching himself, but at least he's wearing gloves, right?

Location Boston, MA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).