SPELLS

Music-scene veterans Chuck Coffey and Rob Burleson talked about playing together for a long time. Coffey played in a number of acts, including Eyes & Ears, while Burleson has been in many groups over the years, including the Symptoms and Lion Sized.

For SPELLS, their eventual collaboration, Burleson suggested his friend Ben Roy as a potential singer, and right off the bat, the three men had undeniable chemistry. The trio then brought in one of Coffey's old collaborators, Don Bersell, on bass, and the lineup was complete.

With a sound that's equal parts East Bay Area pop punk and Rocket From the Crypt, SPELLS has been writing fun songs with more than their fair share of punk-rock snarl. We had a chance to sit down with Coffey and talk about the emphasis on making the band a rewarding experience for everyone involved. - Westword (Village Voice)

"SPELLS is power-chord, bounce-slam punk that stays pure to the genre’s roots. So often today, we see punk as an element blended with other styles like pop and gypsy to give it some grit. With SPELLS, the only descriptor that follows “punk” is “rock.” From what we’ve heard so far, the songs are short blasts of raw energy with Ben carrying over a subtle humor to the lyrics. Just check out the track below, where SPELLS calls for empathy for a-holes. Truly, it’s fun stuff, and music could use an infusion of rock that doesn’t take itself so seriously. Surely, SPELLS will earn its audience…" - Denver Post

SPELLS/TAKE TIME 7" This is big sounding punk' n 'roll that's got throaty vocals. For some reason, it takes me back to a time when the line between metal and hardcore started to get blurred, not that there is any real metal sound here. Shit, there is one band in particular that this really reminds me of and I just can't think of it. GBH? Nope, that's not it. FEAR? No, not that one either. This is going to bug the hell out of me. CODE OF HONOR? No. At any rate, this is driving punk' n 'roll that is worthing looking for. TOXIC REASONS! That's it. TOXIC REASONS! I win. (KK) (Snappy Little Number) - Maximum Rock N' Roll

SPELLS hail from Denver, Colorado, so it’s not a surprise they’ve been taken under the wing by Snappy Little Numbers Recording Co. Their brand new debut 7″ Take Time comes in an edition of 300 on randomly mixed color vinyl.

Instead of power-pop, we’re going to go with power-punk for this 7″. The two songs included are lean and direct, coming with Stevie Shithead’s snarling lead vocals and Charlie Stimsell’s angry, melodic guitar chords. These elements combine for a heavily muscular sound in “Take Time,” comprised of pounding drums that knock the air from your chest around every angular guitar crunch. It’s all summed up in just over a minute and a half as we’re completely blitzed by the aggressive anthem. On the flipside “Slice Away” shakes off some of the angrier vibes from before with the chanted chorus “slice away” and staggering punk guitars. Hear this stuff right below then head on over to Snappy Little Numbers and snag that wax! - Styrofoam Drone

Harsh yet melodic fuzz punk. Reminds me of a calmer Vindictives or a less weird Apocalypse Hoboken. I guess that means this is ‘90s Chicago revivalist pop punk. Buy it if you’re bored of your pedestrian, consumerist lifestyle that can only be placated by buying another piece of vinyl that you will only listen to once or twice. Totally worth it. –Bryan Static (Snappy Little Numbers, snappylittlenumbers.blogspot.com) - Razorcake

The most punk rock way of living is to be true to yourself, despite what others may think. No hiding insecurities behind a whiskey-fueled swagger, no trying to recapture lost youth with angst-soaked anthems of fighting the man…just honesty about life and living it in a genuine manner, whatever that entails.

But being comfortable with aging? That’s another story altogether.

Denver band SPELLS, whose 4-track release, “Double Cassingle,” drops Dec. 20 at 3 Kings, is taking the acceptance route. Their latest single “All Hail Getting Old” is exactly what the title suggests: a punk rock rally cry for embracing the self-acceptance that comes with age. It also flips a big, fat middle finger to those who think re-living their glory days will delay the inevitable. - Denver Post

The lead singer of punk band Spells played the second of two sets later that night at the Skylark, crowd-surfing his way to a sweaty and triumphant finale. This was just a few hours after playing the Mile High Parley at Munity Information Cafe, and a few more hours after Roy had returned from a packed solo show at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal, where (as in Denver and plenty of other places) he’s an acclaimed stand-up. Did we all possess his insane, sober, CrossFit energy? No and no. I spied a dude malingering over a trash can on the way to the Hi-Diver after that, taking the sign of spittle coming off his lips far too slowly as extreme dehydration. - Denver Post Reverb

Qualifying Spells as a “super group,” is really a misnomer, because its members haven’t really stacked the deck. It’s more that the pool of would-be rockers is always diminishing due to common life restrictions such as having families, working for a living, and not caring about music anymore. So Spells gathered those willing rockers and rollers who are left and put them into one music outfit. And that’s definitely not a bad thing, since most bands tend to turn up the suck when they first form. But since the members of Spells have been gracing the Denver punk scene for the better part of fifteen or so years — think The Facet, Eyes & Ears, 29th Street Disciples, Lion Sized, etc. — they’ve already filtered out the suck well over a decade ago. The result is a face-slashing fracas of foot stomping garage rock that’s as gratifying as it is powerful. The first song on the group’s debut 7-inch, “Take Time” is a blistering rock and roll song replete with a cathartic chorus that makes you want to punch someone right in the fucking face (especially if the latter was obstructing the revelry). The B-side, “Slice Away” is a hook-filled sing-a-long vaguely reminiscent of pop punk bands like Face to Face and Crimpshrine. It’s a pair of tunes that somehow manages to match the sonic intensity of Spells live performance — though definitely not the visual intensity, since the record doesn’t come with an impassioned Ben Roy screaming in your face. Regardless, it’s punk for a good time. - SUSPECT PRESS

Spells rounds out the triptych from Denver (not surprising seeing as all three releases were sent by their label, Snappy Little Fingers). This Double Cassingle is as raucous as the 7" they brought out earlier last year, and it's such raucous, throw your beer on the burly dude in front of you fun that that burly dude wont even care - probably. It was my birthday this week, so hail to getting old indeed. - Sonic Masala