Earlier this month, the world was introduced to Values Here, the new band led by Barcelona-based vocalist Chui and legendary guitarist John Porcelly (Youth Of Today, Shelter, Judge), with the punchy single ‘Will Be Tomorrow.’ Today, the band shares ‘Do You Know Why?,’ a track driven by jangly guitars and a bright disposition.
The high-energy punk meets floaty pop style sounds like it should have been on the soundtrack of 90s films like ‘Clueless’ or ‘Empire Records,’ perfect to accompany an empowering moment. The video for ‘Do You Know Why?’ finds the band spending a gorgeous day getting in touch with nature. Both singles appear on ‘Take Your Time, I’ll Be Waiting,’ the debut album from Values Here set for release on September 22nd on End Hits Records.
On writing ‘Do You Know Why?’ Chui states: “I’ve been playing in punk and hardcore bands since I was 15, and I tried everything to be successful with it. I worked my ass off but it just didn’t get anywhere. In the end, I felt so exhausted that I thought about giving up, I kept singing different styles of music but didn’t play in a band for a few years and I really missed that a lot, I love singing and dancing to pop music too, but it wasn’t the same.”
She continues: “In that moment when I wasn’t looking for nothing this opportunity for Values Here came up. It was like a gift from the universe. This made me realize that sometimes we want to force things to happen, to control everything in our lives but life doesn’t always work that way. Like the lyrics say, ‘Destiny has its own rules,’ and ‘Flow and you’ll find.’”
Values Here has been a long time in the making, with Chui and Porcell first meeting years ago at a Shelter show in Chui’s hometown of Barcelona, Spain. A somewhat-joking conversation of the two forming a band ensued and Chui continued to follow up with Porcell on social media until one day during the pandemic, he decided to send her some unused demos and she came back the next day with ‘Will Be Tomorrow,’ complete with several vocal tracks and harmonies.
From there the pair spent a year writing songs and narrowed it down to what would eventually become the thirteen tracks on ‘Take Your Time, I’ll Be Waiting.’ The album itself is optimistic and hopeful, keeping forth a positive mental attitude mindset. There are tracks with straight-up classic New York Hardcore influence like the aptly titled ‘Bring Me The PMA’ and ones that venture into pop rock territory such as ‘We Get Stronger.’ With production by Tom Soares (Judge, Shelter) and mastering by Dave Kutch (Billie Eilish, The Weeknd), the band was able to create a dynamic sound with songs that would fit on the radio as much as they would connect with jumping around in a mosh pit.
One thing’s for certain – Values Here are creating anthemic, energetic songs to shout and dance along with, leaning into the positive, optimistic perspective that gave hardcore punk a sense of community and connectivity in the first place.