I like Sweden’s The Hawkins and after the revelation that was ‘Silence s a Bomb’ it’s great to see them back on the horse so soon with the new mini-album ‘Aftermath’. Of course it’s not a straight-forward album but rather a “conceptual mini-album, dealing with the destructive aftermath of past relationships.” that follows a path along the five stages of grief. (I feel like the book and the noir movie might follow).
We start with the almost triumphal opening to ‘Turncoat Killer’ before the understated jangling riff comes in and the emotion-filled vocals gain fire before the drums really nail the latent aggression. It’s a great song that at the same time manages to harness emotion, immediate connection and a huge great groove fueled by spiteful lyrics. It’s wonderful stuff!
‘Fifth Try’ that follows is nice and manic like a pop-fueled The Darkness, again it’s got that wonderful energy that embraces everything from the aforementioned to Queen and New Wave. It’s wonderful. As is the super cool groove and killer guitar solo of ‘Svääng’ and the bounce and quirkiness of ‘Jim and Kate.’ Not a foot put wrong so far!
We close with the delicate mournful barroom ditty ‘Cut Me off Right’ which takes us back to basics, it’s wonderfully sparse which makes the vocal and the instrumentation all the more effective, and the tiny spikes of emotion shed showers of tiny sparks. On a great record it’s another wonderful layer of complecity and in my opinion a song that deserves the label ‘great’. Might just be my song of the year so far.
We close with the title track, probably the oddest thing here – it builds on a simple refrain quietly for two minutes before bursting into life then falling back to just guitar then keys then silence before it rises again. If I’m honest I have no idea why it sits here bt you can’t help but love a band that feel the freedom to be able to do just that!
With the brave choices here and the experimentation, calling The Hawkins a ‘Garage band’ seems a disservice, but if you go with that analogy they must be the band from the best garage in the town. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – these guys are the real deal. This is important stuff!
9/10
The mini-album will be available on all streaming platforms and 12” vinyl.
Connect with The Hawkins:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehawkinsswe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehawkinsband
Bandcamp: https://thehawkinsband.bandcamp.com/