SAN DIEGO, CA June 10th 2026:
Vermont has been home to a unique and special brand of pop culture for years, featuring artists such as Phish, Grace Potter, Noah Kahan, and even Ben & Jerry’s. And for decades, locals have also followed and celebrated CHIN HO! ‘s music! Pacific Records is proud to welcome Chin Ho!, another unique Vermont standout, to the eclectic label and is excited to announce the release of their upcoming album. The band is reclaiming its “Indie Rock Royalty” title, placing the Green Mountain State on the map yet again. And, there is an epic story to tell…
Formed in 1989 by college friends Andrew X. Smith (lead vocals) and David Morency (guitar), Chin Ho!, also features Vermonters Jason Dunn (production, guitar, vocals, and keys), Tyler Neilson (bass), Matty Vachon(guitar, vocals), and Troy Pudvah (drums, vocals). Dubbed “Vermont Indie Rock Royalty” by Seven Days, Chin Ho! were “the closest Vermont ever came to making a splash in the alternative-rock boom of the 1990s.” Powerful releases, including “Low Flying Planes” and “Exhaust,” and tracks like “Vincent’s Head” and “Always Monica” garnered significant airplay in the 90s as Chin Ho! gigged relentlessly. After an impressive 15-year run, eight self-produced albums, over a dozen line-up iterations, two vans, and 10 years of Jagermeister sponsorship, Chin Ho! quietly vanished, as so many bands do. Morency and Smith reconnected only once in the next 20 years. And now…
“The new Chin Ho! Record,” shared musician and producer Jason Dunn, “is a labor of love in the purest way possible, a logistically impossible album has come to life – a story of friends long estranged, on different coasts, staving off the sadness of the world as we make something new – old friends putting old baggage aside, digging through unresolved history to build something that makes us happy and grateful to be alive and connected.” Dunn adds, “The sound of Chin Ho!’s music has been the soundtrack back to a time when, if we tried hard enough, anything was possible. Hatchets have been buried, friendships have been rekindled, and something great has been created, and with more energy than anyone, including the band, could have ever imagined.”
In August of 2022, Chin Ho!’s band manager hosted a reunion BBQ, and the discussion of a documentary opportunity brought the members back together for a sold-out concert at Vermont’s prestigious venue, Higher Ground. Recharged and spirited, the band’s back catalog was added to all major streaming services. Along the way, Smith asked former member Jason “Halogen” Dunn to listen to one unfinished demo – and the result is an Indie Rock masterpiece entitled “The Mystery of the Curse of the Chin Ho! Mystery Curse”. Dunn, now based in L.A., worked musical magic with Smith remotely on one tune, which led to another tune and then another, eventually agreeing to produce their first new album in 25 years from the treasure trove of unreleased tracks… “as long as Dave is on it.”
In June 2024, the band reconvened in Vermont to record 14 songs under the sound engineering magic of Joe Egan of Egan Media Productions. A strictly family affair, as Egan produced early Chin Ho! as well as Dunn’s band The Halogens back in the 90s. Dunn was thrilled with the tunes and even more stoked about being picked up by the Pacific Records label two and a half decades after the last Chin Ho! EP was released. Plus, Dave’s on it!
“The Mystery of the Curse of the Chin Ho! Mystery Curse” plays out as a rollicking alt-pop romp with the undeniable joy of something that almost didn’t happen. Six musicians from the band’s storied history werebrought together again by the Smith/Morency vibe. Songs pulled from lost archives through decades of musical evolution, picking up the best bits along the way. Something new and immediate, but simultaneously cozy and classic.
Lead single ” Tractor, Pull” is a perfect example: written in 1992, forgotten for three decades, and rediscoveredby Dunn on a cassette marked “Chin Ho! w/Jason, 18 years old” from a 1993 basement rehearsal recording, “Tractor, Pull” is catchy, raw, danceable, and weird, and was the immediate standout as the calling card for the new era of Ho!
The single, Tractor, Pull will be released on June 23, exclusively on Apple Music and iTunes, followed by two other tracks on July 7 and August 18. The full album drops on August 28. Chin Ho! will dust off the amps — and maybe each other — and return to the stage for as many shows as possible, including a special performance at The Higher Ground Showcase Room on November 28, 2026, with The Eyetraps as direct support.
To pre-order the album, click here: https://orcd.co/chinhomysteryalbum
For more information, please visit https://pacificrecords.com.
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ABOUT PACIFIC RECORDS
Pacific Records is a Southern California-based record label that incorporates all aspects of the music business, including marketing, production, and distribution services. Founded by entertainment attorney Brian Witkin, Pacific Records began as a record store chain that evolved into a multi-dimensional entity spanning recording studios, engineering services, music merchandising, and talent buying services. However, its core business remains as an independent record label and music publisher. The label that has an oceanic allure inherent in its DNA releases a wide array of music genres – from rock, Americana, Hawaiian, blues, and hip-hop to world music, new age, classical guitar, reggae, and jazz. Pacific Records is distributed worldwide byThe Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, through a partnership with Burnside Distribution Corporation. https://pacificrecords.com.