Welcome to my TED talk. I’m a massive Tool and A Perfect Circle fan, going into this. I knew of Chevelle, the lovechild of Deftones and Tool with a sprinkle of Korn, but I always felt they sounded derivative, but over the last week, I’ve found a band far deeper than a song about someone who gets angry.
Nobody sounds like Pete Loeffler, and for some of you, that is likely a decently splitting opinion. He strains more than Maynard, but more for effect than difficulty, but he slurs out of feeling like Chino while having really clean fries, but he never goes 200% into a guteral scream like you’d hear in some Deftones tracks that are more on the hardcore side.
There’s some Far, and Hum in this band and it almost sounds like a midwest emo band stopped their act entirely and moved to alternative rock one day, but kept some of the stringing, tightly worded lyrics and rhythms.
It’s 2000’s radio rock, but can that be done well? Well, yeah. I don’t know that I would call Chevelle pop, per se, but for some odd reason, they can fit between a Britney Spears song and a Slipknot track and work. Any time feels like an ok time to hear a Chevelle track. Dude speeding from the cops? “Young Wicked”. School Prom? “Shameful Metaphors”. “Antisaint” could be played by any local band at a bar… sans the bridge because goddamn that bridge.
Their changes are subtle between albums, but at the same time, more distinct as time goes along. I think this is more due to losing the chains of being huge and having more artistic freedom in their later years. I’d like to vote that Sci-Fi Crimes is my favorite Chevelle album. There is not one bad track along the entire length, and in my opinion, is one of the greatest alternative rock albums of its era.
Melodic, heavy but aimed perfectly like a paintbrush and their lyrics are waaay deeper than most numetal or alt bands. Aliens, curses, love, family drama, drug abuse, politics, religion, and some is very clever.
Anyhoo, let an underdog of the 2000’s have another listen. I love Chevelle. Great band with good integrity and it seems like a good dose of humility.
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I used to joke with my friends that Chevelle is the greatest butt rock band ever. But seriously they are one of the best hard/alternative bands and have been touring and working so hard for years and years.
This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) is so good. Recommend for anyone who hasn’t heard it
If you don’t like their lack of noteriety, you have to send the pain below.
Chevelle is my all-time favorite band going on 20+ years now. Thanks to my parents who raised me on Van Halen, AC/DC, Zeppelin, Skid Row, and a ton of other “heavy” acts from the 70s and 80s, I gained a taste for the heavier music - especially once I found metalcore, deathcore, and such. But Chevelle, despite not being as “heavy” as a lot of the other stuff I enjoy (The Browning, for example), still manages to always remind me why they’re S-tier. They fall into the “hard rock” category while tickling full-on metal. And GOAT melodies.
The first Chevelle song I ever heard, probably like many others, was “The Red” - the music video, of all things. 100% understood what the song was about. And I was hooked. Then they dropped Joe (*personal opinion at the end) for their BIL, Dean, and took their “talented and angry” with WWN and TTOT to “talented, angry, and weird (in the best way possible)” with SFC, HOTTB, and LG. LG took me a minute to warm up to, but once I finally listened to it all the way through, it became yet another album in my regular rotation.
This might be a controversial take, but I really enjoyed TNC, basically their “back to metal basics” album. Lots of screaming and heavy chugging. Very fun. “Warhol’s Showbiz” is my favorite off that album, but the whole thing is a banger. NIRATIAS is an amazing soundscape, best experienced from front to back, but every song is a banger on that as well. “Test Test…Enough” is really fun to play once you get the delay pedal settings dialed in.
Chevelle is one of the very few bands (I can count them on one hand) where I can pick any song from their discog at any time, regardless of mood, and thoroughly enjoy it. Needless to say, I am fucking STOKED for the new album. “Cowards” is an amazing set of songs, and I cannot wait for what’s next. Pete himself also said in an interview that one song they played live in 2024 has been reworked, so there’s that, too.
*Re - Joe: The fact that Pete and Sam chose to take the high road for so long in interviews regarding Joe’s departure, and the fact that Joe ragged on them any time he spoke about it, tells me that Joe is the toolbag. Everyone knows that one person who plays the victim card any chance they get, and Joe’s behavior reeks of that. And for those who are convinced that “Joe’s bass tone was GOAT” - remember that Pete wrote the lines, often had to teach Joe how to play the songs while recording in the studio, and even recorded the bass himself on a number of songs that Joe was supposed to do.
I’ve seen this band name before, but not sure if I’d heard them before so gave “Young Wicked” a listen. They definitely sound like some other bands I’ve heard before…Albeit with their own touches.
Not too bad, not something I’d listen to all the time, but when you want this kind of rock grit, I can see the appeal. Appreciate the track suggestions and recommendation!
Send the pain below, The Clincher, Vitamin R, The red, And the video for “All right I get it” is one of my favorite videos.
Yes, sir!
Listen to NIRATIAS front-to-back. It’s a whole experience.
I’ve been a Chevelle fan since they came out. They have a new album on the way.
Not just a new album, their first off of Epic records, following a pop-prog album. This shit is going to be nuts.
It’s Alchemy, same label as Puscifer, Serj Tankian and The Black Queen(Greg Puciato’s band).
