Hot Water Music

Sacrifice. Loyalty. Camaraderie. These aren’t just words, they are the qualities that have defined Hot Water Music’s songs, lyrics and ideology for the past three decades. However, instead of celebrating 30 years of existence with a nostalgia lap or formulaic album, the band decided to mark this milestone with their most ambitious collection of songs to date. Correspondingly, Vows sees the band—guitarists/vocalists Chuck Ragan, Chris Wollard and Chris Cresswell as well as bassist Jason Black and drummer George Rebelo—taking their pioneering punk sound to bold new heights via inventive arrangements, pop-friendly sensibilities and a new generation of musical guests ranging from Dallas Green of City And Colour/Alexisonfire To Brendan Yates and Daniel Fang of Turnstile.  

The result is an album that doesn’t solidify the band as a musical force to be reckoned with — that happened a long time ago — as much as it shows how open the fivesome are to experimenting with a formula that’s already taken them from sweaty clubs in their hometown of Gainesville, Florida, to massive venues all over the world countless times over as they continue to forge a connection with fans that they’ve never once taken for granted.