"For people who've invested a lot of time and energy mapping the vast, complicated genome of the local punk community, Portland's Chemicals are something of a supergroup. Comprising members of CYCLOPS, TRIGGERS, SLEEPWALKERS, RIP and STRAITJACKET—among countless others—the band plays loose-limbed garage punk, free of frills but not without surprises: Check out "No Reason to Stay," from recently released second album For Real, For Life, Forever or Whatever, with its basically two songs, with two different tempos, ingeniously fused together by a ripping bass solo. It's powerful stuff, sounding like the product of lifers who've been around the dirty, trash-strewn block a few times."
