ALBUM REVIEW: Silence Is A Bomb – The Hawkins
There’s a certain buzz of excitement and intrigue that permeates THE HAWKINS‘ sophomore release Silence Is A Bomb. Not only is Sweden not everybody’s first thought when imagining the home of rock ‘n’ roll but, if their self-proclaimed MO of ‘QUEEN mixed with nitroglycerin’ is to be believed, then we really might be onto something special. The reality is not something quite so bombastic, nor as eye-opening as anything from QUEEN, although promo bios are designed to be a little ‘ambitious’ so that’s no real surprise, but what THE HAWKINS has produced certainly provides its own footing to stand on.
What we get is 12 tracks of quite ‘interesting’ rock music, with solid foundations in production, some fantastic vocals – which surprisingly applies to both lead and backing chops – as well as a fairly skittish arrangement of musical influences which steers Silence Is A Bomb far away from being one dimensional. Unfortunately, it often feels like the band is jumping between sounds with both eyes shut, seemingly forcing pieces of a puzzle together that simply don’t fit. It would seem daft to discourage creativity and experimentation but, in this dynamic of risk and reward; the band doesn’t always come out on top.
Starting on a lighter note, while the record’s styles may not coalesce into something entirely consistent, there’s no denying that the band’s thirst for creativity – and a general disinterest in sitting still – has resulted in one of the year’s more intriguing rock tracklists. Silence Is A Bomb‘s first half more or less leans on a digestible mix of garage-y punk rock and modern rock with the introductory title track’s final moments of chaos making way for Roomer‘s quick guitar chugs and Joahness Carlsson’s upfront delivery. A sprint to the finish, we navigate Roomer‘s bouncy riffs and memorable melodies with little space to breath – it’s a short track but it undoubtedly cements the band’s mission statement for energy and replay-value. Jumping to the album’s mid-point, covering tracks like Hilow, Stones, Mynah and Minuette, the band has embraced comfort in this zone of punk and rock ‘n’ roll with some melodies (especially that of Hilow and Stones) taking leaves straight out of FOO FIGHTER‘s books albeit with lighter (regarding production, not aggression) instrumentation.
The band doesn’t always strike gold, with Minutte’s hot flash minute of triple-time madness failing to make any real impact – but it’s there’s still enough meat on the bone to sink your teeth into. So yes, it’s a solid first leg and, while the instrumentation isn’t entirely refreshing, it’s all put together in a tight package; the album’s true spark, however, comes on behalf of the vocal tracks. With song lengths erratically jumping from a morsel-sized two-minutes to the standard five, Carlsson has more than enough room to demonstrate his range of punchy staccatos, pleasing falsetto and, most importantly, his almighty power that give the band’s hooks that all-important earworm value. It is here, amongst the album’s many vocal layers, is where we find the band’s second flash of character. The course of the album sees a great deal of toying with Carlsson’s surrounding entourage of backing vocals, sometimes they’ll mirror him in an acapella style, dart from channel to channel, or simply just act as a platform for Carlsson to shout higher upon. It doesn’t quite hit the levels of QUEEN but the resulting sense of drama certainly alludes to something from THE DARKNESS at least.
The drama continues to penetrate the album’s second half but moments do arise when the band appears to stagnate as the finish line comes into sight. Cut Moon Bleeds gives a false sense of security with its great hook and well-crafted structure making it an album highlight but Libertine seemingly deflates as it approaches its outro, devolving into a fairly uninspired and borderline irritating “lah lah lah” chant. The next 1-2 doesn’t come across any better. Stranger In The Next Room is a blatant ROYAL BLOOD rip-off – intentional or not – and a bad one at that, while Black Gold’s folk-rock roots are certainly fun but is another drastic change of pace that simply doesn’t fit. Fortunately, THE HAWKINS saves its aces till last. Fisherman Blues is a gut-wrenching power-driven single with genuinely moving backing vocals as well as one of the album’s greatest choruses while All My Birds Are Dead is a manic joyride that is only as ridiculous and outlandish as its title.
Discouraging THE HAWKINS from experimenting would be an unwise decision, listening to them endlessly genre hop while maintaining their engaging vocal play would be a delight, but when it comes to putting together a coherent LP, it has hindered the finished article. Fortunately, for lack of any ‘bad’ tracks minus the odd one, THE HAWKINS emerge with a strong batch of high-octane rock numbers that would nestle happily in playlists aside the genre’s biggest titans and should have no issue standing out amongst the crowd. The band certainly has a big future ahead, but whether this is the album that will take them there remains to be seen.
Rating: 7/10
Silence Is A Bomb is out now via The Sign Records.
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