The Chaw. Relentless and hypnotic. A force unstoppable, a sonic inevitability. Hungry, insatiable, damn-good rock ‘n roll cut from the very same granite of the Greats: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Johnny Cash, Cream, and the Golden Era shaped by their peers. The Chaw. A wall of pulsating auditory energy, a rolling psychedelic groove undulating from a moonlit desert roadside tavern, a broken juke box in a haunted diner at the graveyard shift, the highway tide washed upon graffiti-sick concrete beneath an overpass. Three hands beckoning. Come on in. 

In 2011, bassist and singer Jeff Tollefson and guitarist Stephen Schreffler envisioned what would become their debut EP. Four songs recorded live at Tiny Telephone Studio in San Francisco. The Chaw delivered reverberated riffs and crashing drums over deep, melodic vocals. 

Jarrod Taylor joined in 2014, elevating the sonic backdrop with layers of psychedelic guitar tone and pining backup vocals for LP1. Following this release, The Chaw added Greg Francis in 2016, who captured the sheer hugeness and dynamic width of The Chaw through skillful engineering and mixing. From the longing melodies of “Hollies” to the dark carnival of “Gods”, The Chaw honed a sound in their second studio album, Decider that rose with a feel-good pop vibe and dipped back into the downright creepy. 

Build Them An Image is the distillation of those years of recording and playing throughout  the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Great American Music Hall, Bottom of the Hill, Slim’s, Uptown Nightclub, and Rickshaw Stop. The Bay Area is in the album’s bones, and Oakland it’s beating heart. Jeff at the forefront, Stephen and Jarrod lifting up gritty guitars, and Jarrod co-producing with Greg Francis, Build Them An Image is a revelation of their finest achievement yet. 

“Big Black Sequoia” burns with the construction fires of Oakland and raging California wildfires. “Sharon Seevile” is a "Penny Lane" of the West Oakland streets. Closing tack “Dreaming in the Town” is the promise meant for the City, an invitation from a town that inspires you to dream. Title track “Build Them An Image” is a colossal mantra catching the rest of the album in its orbit. Yet as you listen, a question takes shape: What builds the image? My City? Politics? Background? Or something else? 

These questions echo in songs like “Instincts” and “Iron Shoes”. The Chaw delivers on the classic, gold ol’ rock ‘n roll with songs like “Driving your Car”, and “Boil in Blood”. Bombs of energy that move with a gritty beat--painted in fuzzed-out tones, a chaos invites you to dance.

Build Them An Image carries homage and influence from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, Depeche Mode, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead and every great Rock Melody ever written. A love note to the City of Oakland, a ballad for the survivors of the havoc that still unravels around us all.