Hedge are sharing their new EP Freeze Frame High Five which releases today through Best Brother Records. The EP was engineered and mixed by Jon Stanford-Cordaro. Mastering was helmed by Will Killingsworth of Dead Air Studios. Listen to the EP here: Guitarist/vocalist Christopher Chaisson explains all the influences behind each of the songs:

Sicko “Wave Motion Gun”

Sicko is a perfect example of a “pop punk but not THAT kind of pop punk” band: They’re fast and speedy, slightly twee, nostalgic, and definitely fans of Hüsker Dü. This is no more evident than the opening riff of “Wave Motion Gun” which sounds like Bob Mould’s “Makes No Sense at All” played backwards and double-timed. I’d say Hedge sounds a bit like Sicko overall, but especially on a playful and cheerier song like “Ice Rink.”

Jejune “Stresser”

The thing I love about Jejune is Joe Guevara’s guitar playing. Oftentimes, Joe alternates between shimmering twinkly clean arpeggios and fuzzed out freakouts and “Stresser” has one of the latter that hits so hard every time I hear it. There’s something about playing an octave chord with dissonance that will forever be exciting to me, and Jejune nailed that a lot in their songs. Hedge definitely has a few of those riffs sprinkled in there to pay respect to our “trü” elder emos.

Smudge “Jo Jo & the Guts”

I’m a huge fan of Smudge and prefer their catalog to the Lemonheads’ overall (hot take, I know). I think their last record Real Mccoy Wrong Sinatra is a severely overlooked power-pop record and songs like “Jo Jo & the Guts” perfectly capture Tom Morgan’s absurdly catchy, cute, and deep songwriting prowess. Whether I like it or not, I’m almost certain that the title “Jo Jo & The Guts” subconsciously forced me to write “Little Joey and the Kangaroos” despite the two songs sounding very different. The mind is powerful like that.

Leatherface – “Baked Potato”

Leatherface is on my Mount Rushmore of bands, and Mush is arguably the best punk rock record of all time. I’ve always taken to “Baked Potato” because it’s clearly some larger commentary on art, but it’s also blatantly talking about cooking baked potatoes. The dichotomy of silliness and seriousness in “Baked Potato” is inspirational to a lot of my writing and “Snapple Cap” kind of juxtaposes light-heartedness (talking about eggs) and sincere social critique (the increasing price of goods and wage stagnation) in a similar way. The chugga chugga palm mutes in the prechorus are also a very Leatherface-y type of move too.

Embrace – “Money”

Since the beginning of Hedge, I’ve oscillated between writing slice-of-life songs about squirrels and muffins and stuff while also criticizing and acknowledging the ever-compounding crushing oppression of late-stage capitalism. The song “Money” by Embrace was one of the first songs I heard that took a shot at capitalism and consumerism without sounding overtly macho. Instead, it sounds like Ian MacKaye’s responding to his frustration with a beg or a cry against the greed he’s observing, which I can relate to. A lot of folks like Minor Threat and Fugazi, but it’s Embrace for me.

Guided By Voices – “Gold Star For Robot Boy” and Hüsker Dü – “Real World”

Our cover of Guided By Voices’ “My Valuable Hunting Knife” was mainly inspired by the thought: “What if Hüsker Dü covered Guided By Voices?” That resulted in us doubling the speed, adding in big open chords, and relying on the “Grant Hart drumbeat” (if you know you know) to push the accents on chord changes. Bob Mould wrote a million songs that do the aforementioned, but I think his earlier warp-speed stuff like “Real World” is the best demonstration of his maximum tempo/maximum melody approach. Rather than choosing the song we covered for the purpose of this mix, I’ll choose the song that got me into Guided By Voices when I wasn’t even old enough to drive: “Gold Star For Robot Boy”. While I wouldn’t say we sound quite like GBV, we definitely align with Robert Pollard’s direct songwriting approach and tendency for brevity.

Dinosaur Jr. – “I Live for That Look” and Buffalo Tom – “Mountains of Your Head”

Dinosaur Jr. is my favorite band of all time and Buffalo Tom trails closely behind them. Both “I Live for That Look” and “Mountains of Your Head” perfectly exemplify the sound of Massachusetts rock to me: jangly open chords, buzzy distortion, and lazy ordinary-fella style singing that’s happy and sad at the same time. Our song “Hey Dude” is a direct tribute to them and their influence on me and I name drop each in its verses. I had the pleasure of opening up for Dinosaur Jr. back in 2015 and it was truly my dream come true. No matter how “pop punk” we make Hedge, the roots of Dinosaur Jr. and Buffalo Tom are always finding their way into our songs (this time, quite literally on “Hey Dude”).

Weston – “Little Mile ‘94”

Weston’s probably my favorite pop-punk band, as both A Real-Life Story of Teenage Rebellion and Got Beat Up are all-time classics for me. Weston’s got a similar vibe to Sicko in that they dip their toes into twee with their lyrics and sickly sweet vocal melodies while fronting as a “punk” band. Weston’s fun energy and ability to laugh at themselves are qualities I hope listeners sense when hearing Hedge stuff, particularly Freeze Frame High Five.

The Presidents of the United States of America – “Volcano”

I heard PUSA on the radio as a kid because of the popularity of their singles, but never sought them out for a serious listen until the pandemic. Part of that was influenced by having a kid and discovering that singer Chris Ballew is a terrific children’s songwriter under the alias Caspar Babypants. I’d listen to those songs nonstop when my daughter was a baby and it led me down the path of The Presidents and I’m glad it did. Songs like “Volcano” are definitely an influence on Hedge’s lyrical approach as the imagery that Chris Ballew creates in his tales are so vivid and give his songs real character. Whether we’re talking about ice rinks, Sam & Max: Hit the Road, or kangaroos, we’re always trying to paint a picture much like PUSA. Live Dates: March 27th @ News Cafe – Pawtucket, RI April 3rd @ Ralph’s Diner – Worcester, MA April 11th @ Deep Cuts – Medford, MA Album Credits: Christopher – Guitar, Vocals Pillowman Pete – Bass, Backup Vocals Rainy Maple Stanford-Cordaro – Drums, Backup Vocals, Winds Buy the Freeze Frame High Five EP here. Follow Hedge on Instagram. Photo courtesy of Cat Meade