Matt Sweeney was the leader of New Jersey ironic punk-rocker Skunk, whose Last American Virgin (Twin Tone, 1989) and Laid (Twin Tone, 1991) did not revolutionize the genre but certainly made it less obnoxious.

Later, Sweeney formed Chavez with drummer James Lo (former Live Skull), guitarist Clay Tarver (former Bullet Lavolta), and bassist Scott Masciarelli. Repeat The Ending (Matador, 1994) announced their brand of slightly-dissonant-while-anthemic punk-rock with huge hard-rock riffs. The short but intense album Gone Glimmering (Matador, 1995) shines when the band combines highly charged accelerations, dissonant, new wave guitar sound, and almost synthetic melodies (Pentagram Ring, Nailed To The Blank Spot, Break Up Your Band, Ghost By The Sea). Chavez comes through as a more melodic version of Mission Of Burma and, sometimes, Television.

Ride The Fader (Matador, 1997) is a more experimental and less exuberant follow-up. The reference model remains Mission Of Burma: melody and noise. Top Pocket Man and Tight Around The Jaws are maelstroms of power-rock that leak catchy vocal refrains. The praxis can swing either way, towards the strident guitar attack of The Guard Attacks and Cold Joys and You Must Be Stopped or towards the relatively calm and ordered Flight '96 and Our Boys Will Shine Tonight. The former have the upper hand, even when (and "even better when") the band strays into the sheer dissonance of Tight Around The Jaws and Lions.

Better Days Will Haunt You (Matador, 2006) is a Chavez double-CD retrospective that compiles the two albums and rarities.