Published 2009-02-03T00:00:00Z”/>

Stephanie Santolo

For the hundredth time, they’re The Pumpfakes.

The band has explained it too many times to count. In sports, when a football player is going to throw, he pumps his arm back than fakes and throws somewhere else. In basketball when the player goes up for a shot and fakes out – either of these explains the bands name: The Pumpfakes.

Composed of best friends Cameron Ford, who plays lead guitar and sings, Dallas Oliver on bass and Josh Whiting on drums, The Pumpfakes are a Chico band that has been playing shows at local spots such as LaSalles and Normal Street Bar since April 2008.

They should be releasing their first EP within the next two months, they said. It will definitely translate a live show feel.

The members are all Chico State students, and Oliver and Ford are scheduled to graduate in May. When not attending class, the members do what they do best: drink and rock out.

“The best feeling is just being in the garage, drinking beer and playing music,” Ford said.

The band played at Cafe Coda last Friday.

The cafe is a neat little spot, if you’ve never been. They have great coffee, and serve up a mean tofu breakfast burrito.

The crowd was a sea of Pabst Blue Ribbon and the occasional wine glass or two – let’s be honest, the occasional wine bottle or two.

The Pumpfakes played a set full of crowd pleasers. Songs such as, “Rager,” “In the cold” and “We never asked for this” had people on their feet, singing along.

The band took the stage calmly and collected as if they had been doing this for years, or perhaps it was just all those beers they had been throwing back before the show.

Their lyrics are all written by Ford and based on real life occurrences.

“I like the [song] about not keeping your cool at the bars, ’cause we all know I can’t do that,” said Teresa Yeo, a member of the crowd.

The guys are friendly and fun to be around.

“Really we’re just a bunch of alcoholics that are playing alternative rock,” Oliver said.

Maybe it was the dim lighting trying to set the mood, but there were moments during the set that a person could get lost in Ford’s voice.

If they’re not at a show you can usually find the members at school, out getting their favorite grub or drinking. Look for them down by the Valero Gas Station at Pepe’s Taco Truck.

“Yeah, Pepe knows me by name,” Oliver said.

If drinking and having fun is what this band is all about, their stage show captures it perfectly.

Stephanie Santolo can be reached at<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>