Album Review: CH3 – Put ‘Em Up

It’s best to start with a brief introduction for those who aren’t familiar with CH3, they are a band have been around since 1980 who are contemporaries of fellow So Cal legends such as Social Distortion, Bad Religion, TSOL and Circle Jerks, the release of their latest full length represents the bands first complete album of new songs in over 15 years. CH3‘s recording career had been on hiatus until recent political events stirred them back into writing, which is pretty much the only positive I can think of to come from recent political developments, and now the seminal So Cal punks are set to unleash their latest album, Put ‘Em Up, on August 18th via TKO Records.

Put ‘Em Up comes straight out of it’s corner with Model Citizen, a classic slice of CH3 punk rock that shows they’ve lost none of their fire, something that is underpinned on Not That It Matters and All The Night. The anthemic Fire And Water has a distinct feel of The Clash about it, and in that spirit the album’s title track is a politically charged number against the divisive policies of the current American administration. But it’s not all punk and protest, She Never Wanted It This Way and Blue Skies bring the album’s poppier moments, but with punk rock still firmly to the fore just as it oughta be, whilst Half The Way reveals a distinctly softer side to CH3. The God That You Deserve hits you with a melodic hardcore blast against organised religion and Take Me To Your Leader is a fine blast of punk rock that brings Put ‘Em Up to a rousing finish.

Put ‘Em Up places CH3 straight back in the heart of the current punk rock scene with a hard hitting and political slice of So Cal punk rock, there are moments that are influenced by the band’s that informed their sound, but the whole impact is of an original band who have lost none of their energy and rage after over 15 years in the wilderness. Put ‘Em Up is an album that could only have been made by a band with a long history, it revisits everything from the school of ’77 to melodic hardcore via power pop, and after listening to Put ‘Em Up my only regret is that is took them this long to return to recording.

You can pre-order Put ‘Em Up via Bandcamp here