Song Review: "Trusty Chords" by Hot Water Music

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When Gainesville’s Hot Water Music signed to Epitaph Records before they put out their fourth record, A Flight and a Crash, there was concern over the album’s sincerity. Upon its release the album was subject to a good deal of division; it was indeed the punk rock darlings’ most divisive release up until then.

Just a year later, however, Chuck Ragan and company put out the seminal Caution. Often cited as their best record, Caution catches the band at their best; from Ragan’s signature rasp, thunderous guitars, a hefty dose of post-hardcore blended punk, and heart, the band are all on form.

Out of the 12 songs on the album, two stand out as their most notable with one, “Remedy”, being featured in the video 2003 game Tony Hawk’s Underground. I remember hearing that song while face planting over and over again after failing to do any good tricks. The other, “Trusty Chords”, has become yet another emo/punk anthem due to its purely stellar production and lyrical content.

“Trusty Chords” simply put, is a damn good song. HWM’s catalog is absolutely full of impressive songs, like “Bleeder” and “Freightliner”, but it has always been “Trusty Chords” that has been the most captivating.

Frontman Chuck Ragan goes on to detail his disdain for the state of mind he inhabits post break up and how the use of drugs and alcohol, even though he “hates the taste of medicine”, make staying alive more bearable.

Now, that’s pretty damn bleak. The reliance on substances to get you through the pain is something I won’t even pretend to understand, but I kind of get it. It’s obvious Ragan is singing from a place he’s been, or one that he was in all those years ago, and “Trusty Chords” encapsulates those feelings expertly.

It’s a song about pain, loneliness, anger, and weakness all wrapped up in a wonderful emo/hardcore package. Emo stalwarts Alkaline Trio reference the track in their song “Warbrain”, which goes to show how far both the song’s and HWM’s influence reaches. The two bands even put out a split album back in the day.

I recently got into HWM after years of just knowing a handful of tunes and the days I spent playing and replaying their records last Christmas were some of the best spent hours of my life. With each record I was more and more drawn into the band’s truly impressive musicianship and lyricism. To this day I still get excited when I hear Chuck Ragan’s signature rasp kick in at the start of “Drag My Body”.

But nothing compares to how it feels when “Trusty Chords” kicks off with the assault of drums and scratchy guitar riff. Emo, punk, and post-hardcore have given so many fantastic songs and “Trusty Chords” is one of the all time best.

For reference, hit up YouTube and watch Hot Water Music, Dave Hause, and the Bouncing Souls belt out the legendary tune in Sydney in 2010. Much like Trio’s performance of “Radio” at Warped Tour, there is enough angst and punk attitude to last any fan for at least a week.

And that’s pretty much how I’d sum up the track; perfectly punk. It’s been said by numerous punk rockers that the most punk thing to do is write a love song, and while “Trusty Chords” may not be a typical love song, there is more than enough heart to qualify it as such.

Hot Water Music will never falter, they will never fall off. Song after song and album after album they will continue to hone their craft of putting heart filled punk rock songs for the truest of punk rockers. “Trusty Chords” is powerful in every sense, in all ways and for always. So go listen now. Do yourself a favor; it’s Friday dammit.