Los Angeles – With a sound that blends an amalgam of influences while retaining a solid psych-rock core, the buzz around the Leeds-based five-piece Hookworms has grown in anticipation for their new release, The Hum. The band’s second widely distributed full-length album, The Hum, is just out on Domino Records imprint Weird World. Since forming in 2010, Hookworms have shown the trademark prolificacy of the psychedelic genre. The Hum is Hookworms’ second record in two years, coming fresh on the heels of 2013’s critically adored Pearl Mystic.
Members of Hookworms choose to remain relatively anonymous, using only their initials to identify themselves. Because many of the band members have day jobs working in the education field, they stick to cryptic initials in order to avoid being identified by their students on the Internet. This anonymity bleeds over into the tracks, as no single member stands out over the others – every element of Hookworms’ sound blends together into one deliciously spacey, psych-y soup.
Psychedelic rock has made a huge comeback over the last decade, but with this popularity comes a saturation point in which once-original ideas have been rehashed to the point of becoming stale. Perhaps Hookworms have been able to cultivate their fresh sonic quality because of their relative outsider status – the band hails from the U.K., thousands of miles from the psychedelic pressure-cooker that is California’s Bay Area. While they share quite a few characteristics of older bands like Thee Oh Sees and Wooden Shjips, Hookworms have distinct qualities that separate them from the mix.
Listeners get a taste of these qualities on the first track from The Hum, “The Impasse.” This psych-punk nugget bursts out of the gate following a brief introduction. With blaringly fast-paced guitars, vocals screamed with a post-punk urgency, and a steady 4/4 Krautrock beat, this song encompasses much of what defines Hookworms’ sound. The vast majority of songs on the album include at least two of these three qualities.
But on The Hum,Hookworms have also shown a willingness to step outside their comfort zone and take a more laid-back and thoughtful approach. Kicking off the back end of the album is the band’s biggest departure, “Off Screen.” Forgoing the distorted guitars and vocals heard on previous album tracks, the band slows down with a repetitive, clean riff accompanied by quietly earnest vocals. Over the first half of the song, “Off Screen” slowly but surely builds towards a climactic peak. Only after this emotional climax does the song finally ebb back to its more stripped-down opening. As bizarre as this may sound, and despite operating in distinctly different genres, the vocal tone and melodies on “Off Screen” sound a bit akin to Ben Gibbard from early Death Cab for Cutie.
“On Leaving” and “Radio Tokyo” serve as the first two singles for The Hum and both tracks have seen success on alternative and college radio. “On Leaving” kicks off with hypnotic, droning guitars and that signature Krautrock rhythm that Hookworms love to utilize. Meanwhile, “Radio Tokyo,” a song which was released in advance of the full-length, was called “by far the poppiest thing that we’d done – at the time,” by MJ, the band’s front man. It is important to note the last phrase because The Hum has several tracks that match “Radio Tokyo” in catchiness, particularly the album’s closer, “Retreat.”
There is only one real negative on what is otherwise a very solid release. This quibble is a fairly minor one and stems from the album’s short run time. Considering The Hum only has six true “songs,” besides the three well-executed drone interludes, (“iv,” “v,” and “vi”) this album almost resembles an EP more than a true full-length record. It would be nice to see the band take a little bit more time between releases to give their fans a little more bang-for-their-buck. The band would also be well served to further explore new sounds on future releases, as they did to great effect with “Off-Screen” and “Radio Tokyo.” Otherwise they too may risk becoming as trite as some of their genre peers.
Hookworms finish up 2014 with a trio of shows in the U.K., including a December 20 date opening for seminal shoegaze veterans Slowdive at London’s The Forum.
Matt Matasci
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