Angular indie rock outfit Chavez formed under the leadership of vocalist and guitarist Matt Sweeney, who had previously fronted New Jersey act Skunk. After that group ended, Sweeney entered the New York band Wider alongside former Live Skull drummer James Lo; once Wider split in 1992, Sweeney began collaborating with ex-Bullet Lavolta guitarist Clay Tarver. Lo soon came aboard as well, and together with bassist Davey Hoskins the musicians tracked Chavez’s initial demo recordings toward the end of 1993. Hoskins departed shortly afterward, at which point bassist Scott Masciarelli—also credited as Scott Marshall and recognized as the son of Happy Days creator Garry Marshall—joined, enabling the group to perform its first live shows. The anthemic 1994 debut single “Repeat the Ending,” paired with a growing reputation for powerful concerts, quickly established Chavez as a sought-after presence in New York clubs. Their well-received debut album Gone Glimmering and the subsequent EP Pentagram Ring both surfaced in 1995, while the full-length Ride the Fader arrived the following year. Although the band stopped issuing recordings after that point, occasional reunion performances continued. Sweeney contributed to Guided by Voices and Zwan and partnered with Will Oldham for the 2005 release Superwolf; Tarver helmed the “Got Milk?” commercial campaign and wrote the screenplay for 2001’s Joy Ride; Lo remained active in several groups, among them a short tenure with the Sands; and Marshall, who had already appeared in numerous projects by his father, deepened his involvement in film by directing Keeping Up with the Steins. Matador assembled the band’s two albums, EP, and 7-inch into the 2006 box set Better Days Will Haunt You. In 2016 Sweeney, Tarver, Marshall, and Lo reconvened as Chavez and entered the studio to cut three new tracks; those songs appeared on the Matador EP Cockfighters the following January.
