Chaser - Dreamers

 

 Tracklist:

1. Fight of Our Lives 

2. 2020 

3. Good Times 

4. Signs Of Life 

5. A New Direction 

6. The Ripper 

7. Echoes 

8. Dreamers 

9. Break The Chain 

10. Always With You 

11. Only Human 

12. Something In the Water 

13. See You At The Show 

 Reviewed by Chad Jensen, @punk-reviews

 

If you’re looking for that band that can be trusted to carry the torch of melodic hardcore (some call it skate-punk) forward with awareness and aplomb, look no further than Southern California’s Chaser. Formed in 2000, Chaser got its start on the heels of the massive ‘Epi/Fat’ punk-rock wave of the 1990s, and the influences and imprints of that scene are worn with pride on the band’s sleeve. 

And that’s okay with me. In fact, I treasure it. 

Think back to Good Riddance’s debut E.P. Gidget, which featured the track Not So Bad — a song whose main riff is palpably influenced by Bad Religion’s Do What You Want. Listen to NOFX before Bad Religion released its seminal, game-changing record Suffer in 1988, and you’ll hear a California hardcore band with some occasional melody but mostly just beer-bong-style lyrics with a nihilistic sound. 

Fast forward to NOFX’s S&M Airlines or Ribbed, and suddenly, it’s a band that sounds like the perfect mixture between Bad Religion and RKL. Only a couple of releases later, NOFX went gold with Punk In Drublic, fully carving out its own sound with confidence and authority, and the rest is history. 

It’s cool to recognize a band’s influences and trace it back. But the key for any band heavily influenced by another group or scene is to not be derivative. It can’t be a carbon copy because that would lame, boring, and counterfeit. 

Back to Chaser, who is releasing its new record Dreamers on April 9. The band’s fifth full-length album, Dreamers builds on its predecessor with gusto. Sound The Sirens was a gem and roundly lauded but between you, me, and the wall, as much as I like that record, it felt a little too close to the bone of the band’s Bad Religion/Good Riddance/Pennywise influences. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about that unholy triumvirate of melodic hardcore scions. But what Chaser needed to do was take the foundation of those influences, as laid on Sound The Sirens, and build on top of it something new and completely unique to the band on its next release. 

 Dreamers does that. And my oh my, does it deliver. 

It’s a 13-track burner that any fan of fast, semi-technical melodic hardcore will quickly find addictive and unique in its own right. The record opens up with Fight Of Our Lives, which was a nice selection as the album-opener. 

The song opens with a nice bass line that lets you know out of the gates that something familiar and interesting is about to unfold. If you’re a fan of the oozin’ ahhs and three-part harmonies, with a few well-placed gang vocals, Fight Of Our Lives will check those boxes. In fact, it sets the tone for the entire record. 

I’ve got to give props to Chaser and Dreamers producer Paul Miner (he of the Death By Stereo fame), because the production choices are flawless. It actually sounds like Davey Guy is playing a real drum kit instead of the over-used midi-triggers that skate-punk bands use without a thought nowadays. 

Guy’s drumming is solid and complements the band well. He’s not going to change the game in the way that Derrick Plourde did with Lagwagon back in the day, or even Jordan Burns with Strung Out, but Chaser’s sound doesn’t need that. Such drumming would only muddy the water and sound out of place with this band. Make no mistake, though, Guy is no slouch and his drumming chops fit right in the pocket as the motor of Chaser. 

Miner and the band came up with some great vocal ideas for this record and it comes as no surprise as the debut record of his former band, Death By Stereo, titled If Looks Could Kill, I’d Watch You Die boasts some of the most creative lead, harmonies, and gang vocals on any record of its time. 

 The lead vox on Dreamers, belted out by lead singer Mike LeDonne, are smooth and tight but with just a little bit of a distortional bite when the song calls for it. I don’t know who writes the main vocal melodies for Chaser but whether it’s LeDonne or a democratic process within the band, they’re absolutely top-shelf. Near-addictive. 

 You’ll quickly find yourself humming and whoa-whoa-whoaing your way through this record, long before there’s been enough time to memorize them. The harmonies are on-point and never overwrought. I can’t say it enough how good the vocals are on this record. Just smooth and melodic in a kind of No Fun At All sort of way. 

Topically, Chaser sticks mostly to a message of positivity on Dreamers. The lyrics are unique but give you that optimistic, motivating mindset similar to bands like Pennywise and 7 Seconds. Unity, staying true to your goals and dreams, putting in the work, avoiding negativity, and not selling yourself short (with just a few cultural and political pit stops along the way (see 2020), are the main lyrical themes on Dreamers. 

The bass player, Jesse Stopnitzky, really opens up and shows his chops on Dreamers. Track 3 titled Good Times, opens with a nice bass riff that hearkens back to the poppier bands of the Epi/Fat era, like old Strung Out, Pulley, and Face To Face. 

Guitarist Bill Hockmuth found a very nice sound, I’m sure with the expert help of Miner, who owns the Buzzbomb Studios in Orange, California, where Dreamers was recorded. One thing I’ve always appreciated about Chaser is the band’s prioritizing songwriting over virtuosity while its modern skate-punk contemporaries are trying too hard to be the next A Wilhelm Scream. 

 I love technical guitar work and complex song structures but not at the expense of the soul of the song. That’s what so many of the current skate-punk bands miss. Focus first on songwriting, instead of instrumental virtuosity. If the work is put in to write good songs, it’s only a matter of time before the technical chops come out in the wash. A little piece of advice, for whatever it’s worth. There’s little semblance of anything reminiscent of American hardcore in contemporary skate-punk, which lacks the very accessibility that inspired Johnny Ramone, Greg Hetson, and other punk rock pioneers to start a band. Modern skate-punk is closer to speed metal than punk rock. 

However, Hockmuth’s riffs and guitar work are a nice mixture between Pennywise’s Fletcher Dragge, No Fun At All’s Mikael Danielsson, and The Offspring’s Noodles. Straight-forward, powerful, and tight. Like that trio, Hockmuth isn’t trying to be the next Randy Rhodes but performs with a singular power all his own and lets the vocal melodies do the heavy lifting. That takes discernment and taste. I can appreciate that. 

All in, Chaser’s Dreamers isn’t just a good record; it’s a masterpiece. I don’t say that lightly. This record should be mandatory listening for any and all fans of SoCal-style melodicore. With the exception of Chicago’s Counterpunch (and a few others), Chaser is one of the few current skate-punk bands who, for lack of a better term, just get it. 

Hats off, Chaser. You crushed it on this record. I sincerely thank you for continuing to hone your craft as a band and keep alive this sound that so many of us treasure but find increasingly difficult to find (Epitaph and Fat Wreck aren’t signing bands like this anymore). 

Also, Chaser’s decision to have Jason Livermore (Descendents/Rise Against/NOFX/and so many others) mix and master Dreamers at The Blasting Room was the cherry on top. Wise call, gents. 

I give Dreamers five out of five stars. The best tracks are 2020, A New Direction, Echoes, and Break The Chain. This entire record will provide its listener with constant dopamine drops. Trust me on that. 

If you’ve been looking for a newer skate-punk band to provide you with those same goosebumps you used to get when listening to your favorite Epi/Fat bands but haven’t been able to recreate in a long, long time with a newer group, search no further. Chaser provides those goosebumps and dopamine in spades.