Values Here - Take Your Time, I'll Be Waiting - CD

Values Here is a new band formed by vocalist Chui and legendary guitarist John Porcelly (Youth Of Today, Shelter, Judge).

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 were able to create a dynamic sound with songs that would fit on the radio as much as they would connect to 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 things 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.