Like many side projects, Hard Chiller is all about balance. Recently formed by From Indian Lakes’ Joe Vannucchi and Rx Bandits’ Steve Choi as a respite from the former’s shoegazing post-punk and the latter’s proggy ska, Vannucchi and Choi heavily weighed their affinities for pop music and powerful riffs against their mutual inclination to take the ideas expressed in their respective projects a step or two further than what their audiences might expect.
The result is a compelling balance of heaviness and breeziness—pop-minded grungegaze clocking in at a tight 13 and a half minutes on their four-track debut EP, Heavy Cell. It feels indulgent to the whims of their well-trained ears without ever icing the listener out of the equation or dipping into the realm of self-seriousness (the project is called Hard Chillers, after all). It’s a worthy addition to the new shoegaze canon in its understanding of the genre’s rulebook and in its spirit of innovation. In Vannucchi’s words, it’s “big time vibe music to pit to.”
After introducing the second single, “Close By,” at the beginning of June, we’re excited to close out the month with an early stream of the full EP, along with a track-by-track breakdown of the project courtesy of Vannucchi. Check it out below, and pre-order the EP before it drops tomorrow via Born Losers here.
1. “Clouds”
When I heard this one, I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Choi mentioned he wanted a song to be the “pop” song, but when things are simple and repetitive it can be tough to find the vocals. In between the other songs I would just lay down some new ideas every day until something stuck. When I showed my partner she told me it was her favorite song so far, so I guess it worked.
2. “Draining”
This is one of my favorite songs I’ve ever been involved with. I was immediately inspired by the riffs—I absolutely love dissonant, gross doom/grunge stuff, and I was hyped to sing on some. I think the chorus is maybe the best big rock chorus I’ve ever sang. This song rocks.
3. “Close By”
This was the first song we really locked in on. It told us which direction we’d be excited to go in together. The energy is high, but the head banging is still on cruise control most of the time. Big time vibe music to pit to.
4. “Flowers”
This being the first song we did, I think we were still feeling out the vibes. You can hear that it’s a little groovier than the rest, which is a fun detour from the heavy riffs. I feel like I definitely tapped into some late-’90s/early-2000s grunge/radio rock type stuff. The chorus reminds me of Tool/Soundgarden/etc., which is a very cool departure from a lot of the stuff we’ve all been a part of.
