ALBUM REVIEW: Feel The Void – Hot Water Music

Nine albums in, most people should have a pretty good idea of what to expect from HOT WATER MUSIC. The Floridian punks have never really deviated from their hard-hitting yet melodic formula, and they don’t on their new album Feel The Void either. That might put some people off, but it really shouldn’t. As anthemic punk goes, few bands do it better, and this record is no exception.

Having held down the same line-up, at least on record, for the better part of three decades now, Feel The Void marks something of a first for HOT WATER MUSIC in that it features THE FLATLINERS’ Chris Cresswell as a fifth permanent member. It’s been a while coming, with Cresswell having covered live duties for founding vocalist/guitarist Chris Wollard since 2017. He also provided backing vocals on 2019’s Shake Up The Shadows EP, but his involvement is much greater here. It proves a natural, easy fit, with Cresswell’s guitar adding yet another layer to the band’s powerful melodic arsenal. He even handles lead vocals on eighth track Turn The Dial, providing one of the album’s most rousing highlights in the process.

Of course, a lot of the vocal work here comes from the instantly recognisable lungs of Chuck Ragan. His gruff, gravelly tone has never really been for everyone, while for others it’s one of the band’s major draws. It lends Feel The Void a raw, lived-in passion, with the sense – as always – that Ragan means every word. Easily the most powerful in this regard is the record’s fourth track Habitual. Penned by Ragan as a song for and about those close to him who’ve suffered with cancer, it’s an emotional gut-punch of a track with a chorus that opens with him addressing the disease itself (“I hope you die!”) and a bridge that insists “I won’t cave/I’m wide awake”.

Wollard makes his fair share of contributions too, including perhaps most impressively on recent single Collect Your Things And Run. His voice is a little softer than that of his counterpart, but his passion is similarly without question. Bringing up the rear is the band’s rock solid rhythm section of bassist Jason Black and drummer George Rebelo. Both of them sound excellent here, their respective rhythmic anchors produced to perfection by the band’s frequent collaborator Brian McTernan. The duo’s playing is tight and considered throughout, with the back-to-back pair of Heart Stays Full and the title track arriving in the middle of the record to demonstrate this particularly well.

While it’s easy to pick out individual performances like this, it bears emphasising that Feel The Void is the work of an impressive and cohesive whole. Over a 40-minute runtime, HOT WATER MUSIC keep the anthemic punk coming whilst scarcely missing a beat. It ends especially strongly, with the emotional, ballad-like Ride High followed by a final ‘woah‘-laden sing-along in Lock Up. Ultimately, this record isn’t a massive reinvention or evolution for HOT WATER MUSIC, but it is hard to complain when a band are as good at what they do as this.

Rating: 8/10

Feel The Void is set for release on March 18th via End Hits Records and Equal Vision Records.

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