Monday: CHON - Perfect Pillow

     Not a huge Stryper fan but could still use a Funday? Well then let's keep it going with a Monday Funday heaping helping of chill from your friends in CHON.

     I'm sure you're all super CHON experts by this point, but let me lay it out for those of you who've just gotten here: the guys in CHON are experts at crafting bright, melodic, and very technically proficient instrumental prog (well, mostly instrumental...) with loads of jazzy overtones. Their latest effort, the mixed LP of new-and-reworked-old material Grow, was released back in the spring, but songs like your Monday Funday tune still creep into my playlist on the regular.

     "Perfect Pillow" is your perfect example of CHON's game, and a perfect example of why, while the tracks on Grow that do have vocals aren't hurt by them, there's absolutely no need to mess with success.

Friday: CHON - Splash

     We're heading into the weekend once again, and in Canada it's a long weekend, so let's go with some shreddy-yet-mellow instrumental prog to ease you into this three-day celebration of the birth of Queen Victoria. And when I say shreddy-yet-mellow instrumental prog, your mind should immediately come up with a short list of acts I could be talking about, and the purveyor of your Friday song should be at or near the top of that list.

     California's CHON have been heavily promoting their new album Grow, so your Friday song isn't the album's first single or anything, but it is the first video as far as I know. It's a fitting visual treatment, too: a fun-filled, sun-filled day outdoors to go with the fun, sunny, jazz-flavoured melo-shred of latest single "Splash". Give it a listen, and immediately brighten up your weekend a bit.

Saturday: CHON - Can't Wait

     I know it's only been a couple of weeks since the last time I featured a song from CHON's new album Grow, but in the interests both of keeping it mellow for your belated Saturday song (just play this on any Saturday when you need some chilling to happen) and of keeping you abreast of the latest and greatest out there on the internet, it's time for more CHON.

     The occasion this time is not only the proliferation of their latest single from the forthcoming Grow, "Can't Wait", but also the proliferation of their latest single with... vocals? Yes, everybody's favourite jazzed-up instrumental pop-prog band has some of them word things on their new record. But it's not the end of the world -- it's not even the first time they've done it -- so go ahead and have a listen and see what you think before deciding out of hand it's not for you.

CHON - Story

     You like guitar-driven instrumental pop-prog, right? Of course you do! So sit tight, because CHON and I have got you covered.

     The San Diego-based band with the name that's all in caps recently let the cat out of the bag regarding the release of their debut LP on Sumerian. Grow will be hitting stores and streaming services towards the end of March, but you don't have to wait that long to see if you might dig any of the new material because there's already a song and video out to accompany all that tasty pre-order goodness.

      "Story" is, to my hear, pretty standard CHON fare -- in the best possible way. Interweaving guitar lines eschew empty wankery in favour of intricate melodies, and some tight drumming just adds that much more to the already decidedly jazzy flavour. If "Story" is any indication, Grow could be the feel-good prog record of the year. Check it out.