Album Review: Hooded Fang - Gravez

The chuntering wall of bass, and garage rock simplicity of ‘Graves’ gets us off the ground, the track carries the currently in demand sing-along appeal of The Vaccines and a million other bands that have sweated buckets in tiny rooms whilst pretending to be The (insert rock dinosaur from the past name here). It is a paranoid song which could be about the demise of Pompeii if the opening line lyrics were to be taken literally - “Covered in ash from the night before”. Likely the refrain of “So many faces and they’re all the same / why you lookin’ at me” is not about human statues, and possibly more to do with the bewilderment a band must face as they look out into a sea of strangers when posing on stage.

I don’t know. My interpretations are guesswork at best. I like to believe that Hooded Fang’s bassist April Aliermo will become this generations Kim Deal, but she doesn't sing and therefore we must make do with the misanthropic jive talk masquerading as sunny rock n’ roll that spews from the mouth of Daniel Lee. His drawl is borderline catatonic, mumbled and menacing, as if he’s the kind of man who sleeps with one eye open and a shotgun by his bed. That sounds bad, real bad. Don’t see it as a criticism, because his style works. It is laid back in a Adam Green / Julian Casablancas sense.

The spacey ‘Ode to Subterrania’ has got that vintage B-52’s stomp to it, minus the kitsch. A relentlessly speaker leak, in a nutshell this is the fluid sonic shape of Hooded Fang’s sound. Bass that shakes the walls; possessed guitar licks that regress to better sunny days and decorated with an unsettling psychologically thrilling lyrical ramble.

‘Bye Bye Land’ opens with the mournful croon of “your flesh got torn apart”; the beauty of the song makes it a strangely compelling number that timelessly floats across the nine PM sunset.  Four tracks in, and everything is so very assured that you would guess that Hooded Fang were already reaching the peak of their powers.

I've heard several albums that start like this, and often it all goes downhill from here. The opening salvo is fired and what follows is a slow drag of smoke, dirge and repetition. Tracks which usually scream “skip me”.  It was intriguing upon first listen to hear where this one would go. Having listened to Gravez first time around on a walk to work, I often find that a good song can fill the lungs and quicken your step marching you quickly into that job you hate. The title track is a shaky piece of glorified croon, sorta Jonathan Richman-y, The Lurkers, a close cousin to bands like White Denim and Black Lips. I’m just naming names. Make up your own mind. ‘Gravez’ is a real heartbreaker, when Lee exclaims “I killed my morning star” I almost bring up my porridge because his sincerity unsettles me so much.

There was only one point in the album when I felt alienated and not particularly emotionally invested, that came with the straight and direct ‘Sailor Bull’. Although I've listened to this album a shed-load of times, ‘Sailor Bull’ always marks the time where my mind begins to wander a bit. Maybe this one is a grower, but it lacks the subtleties of the other tracks, and carries no quirk. Thankfully ‘Trasher’ throws a rubber ring around this potentially drowning man. Tight, taut, wiry and infectious, the song is built upon a hypnotic groove.

Things just keep getting better and better. ‘Never Minding’ is lyrically clumsy, but the kind that is almost part of the Noel Gallagher school of writing down the first thing that comes into your head and producing unlikely brilliance. Again the maritime heard it in the wind woo woo woo’s add so much. There is grace aplenty, and the perfection of this song bothers me. How on earth is someone from the lake side city of Toronto able to sing something that sounds like it came from a disenfranchised voice on the pacific coast?

Next question. Why can’t the album end there? That would be the perfect place. Final track ‘Genes’ doesn't necessarily appear tacked on. Because it has merits, however it is marooned miles away from the core sound, sharing only a dreamy haze of a chorus. Bookmarked by the ‘Dry Range Outro’ and I neglected to mention this at the beginning but also the short ‘Dry Range Intro’, I think ‘Genes’ benefits from having that buffer. If ‘Genes’ was the last thing I heard after listening to Gravez in its conventional album form then perhaps I’d feel a tad underwhelmed. As it is, the track is maybe a composition of some ideas that were left in the pot and needed to be used up before it is time for the band to reconvene in the studio and think about whatever comes next. Gravez doesn't really need a neat and tidy ending.

 Gravez is out on May 27 and available from amazon and iTunes.