Taking influences from a diverse range of styles – Stoner Rock, Metal, Blues, and blended with the anecdotal lyrical style of country, then spat in your face with the attitude of punk, Queensland rock outfit Hammers are a band not easily pigeonholed into one genre. Their debut EP “Homeblokes” is released today, we take a look at the songs on offer.
Hammers are from various locations in New South Wales and Queensland. They certainly like their rock and roll and aren’t afraid to show it, with their new EP “Homeblokes” out today.
When I hit play I was instantly struck by how much they sound like Orange Goblin. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as I have a soft spot for stoner rock, plus Orange Goblin rock my little cotton socks. They also add this nice little tinge of hardcore punk into the mix, which certainly tickles my inner child (not in a creepy way). They certainly know how to write an awesome riff. Listening to this had me dancing all over my home office.
The production values are top notch. The bass tone they use is nice and crunchy, like a packet of crisps fresh from the bag. There’s this great sense of grimyness too, making it sound like they’re performing at some seedy dive bar that’s literally called Dive Bar, with a neon sign next to them advertising cold beer. It’s a shame it’s 10am while I’m writing this, otherwise I’d have some bourbon to complete the picture.
There’s this great sense of humour sprinkled through the EP too. As an example, I pissed myself laughing when the opening lines of Dead Set were about serving a ball in tennis. Possibly as a metaphor for not piss-farting about when there’s work to do, or maybe the band just really likes ball sports. Who knows and who cares, it was just hilarious! Similarly on Speak of the Devil they make reference to having “Bundy and a pack of darts”, which adds that great bit of local flavour.
If there were any weak points on the EP it would be the song Palm Readings With Sin. I dunno, to me it sounds like an early song that was written before the band really found their groove. It’s also surprisingly long for an EP, coming in at a mighty 29 minutes. It makes you wonder why they didn’t write an extra two or three songs and make it a full album, as they’re about 80% there already.
Overall I’d totally recommend Homeblokes. If you want some rockin’ good tunes to enjoy your bundy and darts with, this is a good place to start.
