h.Chinaski press

CMJ Music Monthly Issue 657- March 13, 2000

Henry Chinaski is the semi autobiographical character in the writings of Charles Bukowski.   The band H.Chinaski, aside from drawing inspiration for its name from the debauched hipster novelist, also takes musical inspiration from the underground rock scene of the '80s and early '90s.   Any group that inspires you to dig out old Honor Role and 100 Flowers records is okay in our book.   The band's three-man lineup shares those bands' taut, economical style, which favors lots of hairpin turns and sudden stalls and starts.   While the music flexes its austere, angular indie-rock rhythms and quicksilver percussive chops, the vocals are all yowling melodrama, making for an old-fashioned earnestness as endearing as black horn-rimmed glasses.

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