In a year teeming with audiovisual creativity, New York’s punk rockers ChumHuffer releases their newest video, “Technophobe,” from their 2023 EP “Orgy of Hate.” Like a technicolor storm swirling in the sonic seas, ChumHuffer spins a musical web that bewitches the senses. While they create what they have fondly described as “crazy music,” the band members are like sorcerers of sound, whipping up an engaging brew of punk, surf, and hardcore genres, garnished with a West Coast vibe that belies their East Coast roots.
The band, a collaboration of Shawn Refuse (Refuse Resist), Blackout Matt (Blackout Shoppers), Joe Dorane (Hopeless Otis), Jimmy Duke, and Ryan Paige, has been crafting this strange brew since 2021. ChumHuffer has emerged from the churning cauldron of the music scene like a punk rock phoenix, pulling influences from stalwarts like Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat, TSOL, and more.
After parting ways with Drummer Mike and Marc Noiz, the rhythm section’s vacuum was filled with Ryan Paige on bass and Jimmy Duke on drums. This reshuffle may have been the secret spice in their sonic stew, as “Orgy of Hate,” their latest EP, boasts an evolution from the raw, DIY sound of their 2022 EP “Blood in the Water.”
The video “Technophobe” is the third music video from “Orgy of Hate,” a video series that doubles as a commentary on our tech-addicted society. Conjuring up associations with “Flight of the Conchords” and “Office Space,” ChumHuffer presents us with a robot dealer of tech, ensnaring kids in the web of technology addiction. But, as in any good yarn, a protagonist rises to resist the robotic menace.
At its core, ChumHuffer is a band that dares to smash together influences and interests in a delightful, punk rock jambalaya. They are as versatile as a Swiss army knife, equally at home creating music videos as they are ripping up stages. They’re slated to play alongside Boston bands Tree and Death Ray Vision on June 24th at the Kingsland in Brooklyn, NY, before heading to a beachside music festival in Rockaway on July 15th. And as the summer unfolds, the band plans to brew more tunes to satisfy our craving for their unique brand of crazy music.
The future, as they rightly say, is unwritten. But if ChumHuffer’s trajectory is anything to go by, it’s safe to say it’ll be far from boring.
