Hey, just so we’re clear and you don’t think I’m trying to put one over: this is decidedly not a premiere. Pushy‘s debut album, Hard Wish, originally came out in 2018 through Germany’s Who Can You Trust? Records, and hell, I did a premiere for it at the time, and I’m pretty sure it’s been on Bandcamp ever since, so no, not a premiere. But Tee Pee Records is giving the classic heavy rockin’ eight-tracker a domestic US look on vinyl this week, and that’s definitely enough of an occasion for me to want to host Hard Wish again. Not that good records need an excuse anyway, but you know what I mean.

On guitar/vocals in the Portland, Oregon-based Pushy one finds Adam Burke, formerly of Fellwoods, and best known for the striking paintings he’s provided as cover art for everyone from Ruby the Hatchet to Hexvessel to this site to Fit for an Autopsy. He shares vocal duties with bassist Neal Munson, as Ron Wesley and Travis Clow round out the four-piece on guitar and drums, respectively, and across Hard Wish, they tap influences from earliest AC/DC, earliest King Crimson, earliest Judas Priest, not-quite-earliest Black Sabbath and a host of others brash, ballsy and boozed-up. Clow and Munson make a nodder highlight out of early cut “Blacktop,” but from “Fanny’s” to “I’ll Be Gentle,” the focus here is on attitude, on swagger, and songs like “El Hongo,” the driving “Lonesome Entry” and “Nasty Bag” have plenty of that, while “If I Cry” and closer “Lay of the Land” expand the palette a bit with some deceptively nuanced jams built around the live-feeling energy of the recording itself.

Bottom line is there’s plenty to dig here for ’70s aficionados and other-type heads looking for a groove to make their day, and really, again, I’m not trying to say this is a premiere — because it isn’t — but with the Tee Pee release of Hard Wish out this Friday (preorders below, if that’s your thing), I’m just glad to have a chance to revisit it, because it rocks and sometimes that’s just what you need. Anytime Pushy wants to get going on a follow-up, that’d be fine by me.

Please enjoy:

Portland-based hard rock outfit PUSHY are making waves in 2020. The band has announced that their debut album ‘Hard Wish’ will get a worldwide release on chocolate brown vinyl via Tee Pee Records. Boasting the unmistakable swagger and retro flair of rock n’ roll from a time when Woodstock was still young, Pushy descend upon listeners with boisterous, rabble rock vocals, raw, electric guitar riffs and natural percussion that feels all too authentic in contrast to the swath of modern music. Perhaps the most striking quality of Hard Wish is also its most plainly stated; that it sounds so sincerely like four musicians working harmoniously together as one in the same room.

The vinyl release of ‘Hard Wish’ is out May 8th on Tee Pee Records. Fans can pre-order the LP at the link found here.

‘Hard Wish’ Tracklisting:
1. Fanny’s
2. Nasty Bag
3. Blacktop
4. If I Cry
5. El Hongo
6. Lonesome Entry
7. I’ll Be Gentle
8. Lay of the Land

Pushy is:
Guitar – Ron Wesley
Drums – Travis Clow
Bass, vocals – Neal Munson
Vocals, guitar – Adam Burke

Pushy on Bandcamp

Pushy on Thee Facebooks

Pushy on Instagram

Tee Pee Records website

Tee Pee Records on Thee Facebooks

Tee Pee Records on Bandcamp

Tags: Adam Burke, Hard Wish, Oregon, Portland, Pushy, Pushy Hard Wish, Tee Pee Records, Who Can You Trust? Records

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2020 at 7:27 am and is filed under audiObelisk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.