I don’t believe any sort of cosmic alchemy exists when it comes to musicians, but Pushy has me thinking twice. The members of this Portland band create some truly righteous rock ’n’ roll—if it were 1975, they’d be sharing stages with the likes of ZZ Top or KISS and playing to thousands of weed-smoking longhairs every night.
But it’s 2018, and this kind of heavy rock is pretty much relegated to music’s nether regions. And while Pushy might get labeled as “retro” or “throwback,” I’d like to think that they’re simply playing rock ’n’ roll the right way—cathartic, good-timin’, and greasy in all the right places.