ALBUM REVIEW: Rebuild Repeat – Hockey Dad
Indie dreamboat this, indie rock darlings that, forget it and everything you thought you knew about HOCKEY DAD. Yes, they are still an indie band and abide by the genre rules, without pushing the borders of it all too much, but their new offering Rebuild Repeat is a spiritual reset for the Australian duo. They make one thing clear through the sonics of the record: whilst they’ve been gone they’ve also matured a lot, settling for just enough to make their most cohesive work yet.
More than anything, throughout the record HOCKEY DAD focus on their relationships and how they process those connections. Whether it’s awfully complicated tangled love, or how you operate with a partner in crime best friend, their lyrics are succinctly evocative of intimacy, in every sense. Still Have Room is an undeniably catchy declaration of love; whilst emotionally it’s as dense and knotted as ivy, Zach Stephenson delivers sweet nectar vocals and clarity in his lyrics. Safety Pin, another of the catchy singles, finds the duo’s perfect pace, fittingly like that of the tide, of relaxed in the verses and uplifting in the choruses.
There’s something warmly familiar about the record. Burning Sand and That’s On You especially draw you in with their welcoming acoustics and velvety vocals that are soft on the ear, without syphoning the life away from the higher energy tracks like Seething. Hard to swallow reflections become apparent, which turn sour in a cacophonous chorus but are rooted in self-respect – ultimately it’s the most empowering track on the album.
A golden hue is cast across Rebuild Repeat, as if this is as good as they’ll get, and it very well might be. They’re one of the best at crafting these charming indie tracks that could nurse you back to health but to a certain extent their lyrical content feels almost too idyllic at times. Thoughts are too well organised when anecdotal or reflective, nobody is this good at setting boundaries, perhaps that’s what sets them apart but it can quickly run off course down the wrong hole after swallowing it, saccharine.
Fortunately, there’s a safety mat to catch them from falling too far from reality in their last couple of tracks; Dancing On The Other Hand is a benevolent piano moment, which feels isolated both amongst the guitar tracks and its imagery that could be a solo slow dance, where all you’re asking for is a partner. What Stephenson is looking for throughout the album is all the more apparent: a partner, and adds further gravity to Safety Pin making the ride or die message echo out further.
Rebuild Repeat is mastercrafted indie-pop for lonely hearts and hopeless romantics, woven from the finest of maturing, selecting only the most gut-wrenching of romance tropes, and finished with a sombre melancholy to scent the final hurrah.
Rating: 7/10
Rebuild Repeat is set for release on June 14th via Farmer & The Owl/BMG.
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