Values Here is a new band formed by vocalist Chui and legendary guitarist John Porcelly (Youth Of Today, Shelter, Judge). hey share their debut single ‘Will Be Tomorrow,’ introducing their refreshing blend of hardcore punk with pop flair. Shredding guitars and punchy drums compliment Chui’s attitude-filled vocal delivery, complete with a classic woah-oh hook. The video for the song finds the band, rounded out by bassist Tim Brooks (Bold) and drummer Vinny Panza, giving a fiery performance and running around the streets of NYC. The single appears on the band’s upcoming album ‘Take Your Time, I’ll Be Waiting,’ set for release on September 22nd via End Hits Records.
Diving into the lyrical content of the track, Chui states: “This song is about not giving up. When you try really hard to achieve something you’ll probably fail several times, but if you give up for sure you’ll never get it! I can’t even count all the times I failed in my life. The most difficult part is not achieving success, it’s getting up when you fall and having the perseverance to keep going.”
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.
Speaking on the sonic direction, Porcell states: “Personally I always like to push the envelope with every band and record I do. I never just want to live off of past accomplishments and recreate a sound I did with previous bands just because I know it will be immediately accepted. I’d rather push forward and always challenge myself to make newer and more interesting music. I knew Chui was an amazing singer so I wanted to write songs that would showcase her voice and harmonies. I’m a punk rocker at heart so I’ll always make music that’s energetic and rallies around a message, but for this record, I wanted to go further into the melodic side of things.”
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.
‘Take Your Time, I’ll Be Waiting’ tracklist:
01. Will Be Tomorrow
02. Bring Me The PMA
03. Feeling Down
04. Do You Know Why
05. It’s Your Business Not Mine
06. We Get Stronger
07. Don’t Dig It Up
08. Earthlings
09. Lift Your Head
10. I Will Forget
11. Victory
12. No One’s Left Behind
13. Last Forever