Post by radioclash on Apr 2, 2006 11:05:37 GMT -5
Since things are a little slow and I just discovered this on my computer, I thought I'd post it. Hopefully, it's a new one to some of you or a good read the second time through!
Chicago Innerview Magazine
Rise of the Hammerheads
JAN 2004
by Sean Foran
One has to admit that our stodgy old professors were correct when they told us that history repeats itself. When it comes to music, this statement follows the old rule with complete obedience. Modern music has paid homage to the sixties and seventies and is now reviving the sugary eighties with current bands repackaging the Cure, Smiths, and Joy Division regularly.
If Father Time stays on course, the nineties should be receiving a highly anticipated retrospective fairly soon. You remember the nineties. In the early part of the decade hard rock was king while the style was pure ass shaking, head bobbing, and fist pounding bliss. Bands like Motley Crue and Guns 'N Roses were rock’s outlaws, launching records that were a music geek’s closest access to sex outside of his dad’s porn stash. When grunge manifested, metal bands disappeared faster than Osama Bin Laden, making way for a genre of hard rock that was as gloomy and political as it was loud.
The lull has been too long as music fans are currently up to their ears in emo and acoustical troubadours desperately in need of a Prozac prescription. I’ll be the first to admit that I miss the hard rock that filled the airwaves during the last decade.
The Lovehammers, from our own Windy City, have stepped up to put the spark back in modern rock and they’ve brought their welder’s torches with them. It’s about time a band has turned up with full guns drawn, ready to delve out some serious rock and roll without skimping on the sex and debauchery that grunge so foolishly discarded.
The Lovehammers are the reigning local darlings of the Chicago music scene and after listening to their most recent disk, Murder on my Mind, it’s easy to see why. Murder was released in February of 2003 to the anticipation of rabid fans everywhere. The Hammers consistently sell out shows, not only in Chicago but also at legendary Los Angeles venues such as Whisky A Go Go and Viper Room.
Vocalist Martin Casey and drummer Bobby Kourelis formed the group in high school and eventually recruited brother Dino Kourelis and Willy Sawlchik on bass and drums. They’ve toured with Nickelback and New Found Glory and have worked with producers such as Steve Albini (Nirvana, Bush) and David Vartanian (Live, Violent Femmes). They’ve also played the esteemed festival circuits South by Southwest, CMJ and the Atlantis Music Conference — where they began to receive some long overdue critical notice.
The Hammers gained additional notoriety by winning the "Lucky Strike Band to Band Combat" and finished second in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for their track "Rain on the Brain", from their first album L’Strange. After watching the Hammers play at the CMJ festival, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue was blown away, claiming "This is a band to watch out for". The most compelling reason, however, to appreciate the Lovehammers is their rabid fan base who call themselves "Hammerheads". Their loyalty is viral and will ultimately propel this act into the mainstream.
Murder on My Mind encapsulates the Lovehammers' arrival as an act that sweeps aside the mope for pure sweat and energy. For all you technophiles out there, this is not a 3-song download on your iPod. Murder collects the best elements of grunge and hard rock with a twist of punk that stems from the pure adrenaline the band possesses. The horsepower alone on the record is convincing enough to keep it on the rotation list. It sounds as if the group expends every ounce of potency in their beings to purge the 10 tracks from their instruments.
Singer Casey is the straw that stirs the drink and his vocals punctuate every track with a sonic layer of pure passion. Several of the songs like "The Tunnel", and "Say You're Sorry" end with the singer pouring out his heart and lungs with vocal interludes that extend the verse effortlessly.
The grunge influence is pervasive on tracks like "Eye’s Can’t See" and "Wait For No One". When Casey belts out "Now I know how it feels to be so low", I was reminded of the early grunge gods Mother Love Bone and the vulnerability of the late Andrew Wood’s voice. Once the album hits its stride, an upsurge of punk is heard on "Better Off (Walk Away)". Driven by a jittery drumbeat, the Hammers come off like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones complete with a chanting chorus that involves the entire foursome.
Mid-album, we’re greeted with "Clouds", the obligatory balled that balances out most traditional hard rock records. (Who here didn’t love "Patience" by Guns 'N Roses or "Home Sweet Home" by the Crue?) "Clouds" feels like a post sex cuddle and allows some breathing space for the aggression that dominates Murder.
The remaining songs play out like a skilled lover, surrendering a second session of lustful abandon. “This Town” is the disk's standout track. It’s loud and jarring but hitches a plodding interlude towards the song's end, deconstructing and rebuilding the tempo for a cathartic climax. Murder on my Mind ends with the song "Low-Life Insurance (Let’s Get Wasted)". The track is clearly a tilt of the hat to the decadence of rock and roll. Billy Sawilchik’s sleazy guitar chords frame the chorus of "let’s get wasted", thrusting the track into contention for the party anthem of the year. (Did you hear that Andrew WK?)
When I fondly look back at the era that produced some of my modern musical heroes, I realize that it wasn’t so much that the music went out of style, but rather that the bands crashed and burned far too young in their journeys. Fans are left only to imagine what Nirvana or Alice in Chains would be putting out right now if their singers didn’t die so needlessly.
This is even more reason why we crave the Lovehammers. We need them to bring out the future "Hammerheads" that have been locked up for too long, awaiting the heavy sounds of the not-so-distant past to fill our ears once again.
The Lovehammers will play at Metro Jan. 10 and will appear on DDMI Studios' "The Music Show" in January.
Chicago Innerview Magazine
Rise of the Hammerheads
JAN 2004
by Sean Foran
One has to admit that our stodgy old professors were correct when they told us that history repeats itself. When it comes to music, this statement follows the old rule with complete obedience. Modern music has paid homage to the sixties and seventies and is now reviving the sugary eighties with current bands repackaging the Cure, Smiths, and Joy Division regularly.
If Father Time stays on course, the nineties should be receiving a highly anticipated retrospective fairly soon. You remember the nineties. In the early part of the decade hard rock was king while the style was pure ass shaking, head bobbing, and fist pounding bliss. Bands like Motley Crue and Guns 'N Roses were rock’s outlaws, launching records that were a music geek’s closest access to sex outside of his dad’s porn stash. When grunge manifested, metal bands disappeared faster than Osama Bin Laden, making way for a genre of hard rock that was as gloomy and political as it was loud.
The lull has been too long as music fans are currently up to their ears in emo and acoustical troubadours desperately in need of a Prozac prescription. I’ll be the first to admit that I miss the hard rock that filled the airwaves during the last decade.
The Lovehammers, from our own Windy City, have stepped up to put the spark back in modern rock and they’ve brought their welder’s torches with them. It’s about time a band has turned up with full guns drawn, ready to delve out some serious rock and roll without skimping on the sex and debauchery that grunge so foolishly discarded.
The Lovehammers are the reigning local darlings of the Chicago music scene and after listening to their most recent disk, Murder on my Mind, it’s easy to see why. Murder was released in February of 2003 to the anticipation of rabid fans everywhere. The Hammers consistently sell out shows, not only in Chicago but also at legendary Los Angeles venues such as Whisky A Go Go and Viper Room.
Vocalist Martin Casey and drummer Bobby Kourelis formed the group in high school and eventually recruited brother Dino Kourelis and Willy Sawlchik on bass and drums. They’ve toured with Nickelback and New Found Glory and have worked with producers such as Steve Albini (Nirvana, Bush) and David Vartanian (Live, Violent Femmes). They’ve also played the esteemed festival circuits South by Southwest, CMJ and the Atlantis Music Conference — where they began to receive some long overdue critical notice.
The Hammers gained additional notoriety by winning the "Lucky Strike Band to Band Combat" and finished second in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for their track "Rain on the Brain", from their first album L’Strange. After watching the Hammers play at the CMJ festival, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue was blown away, claiming "This is a band to watch out for". The most compelling reason, however, to appreciate the Lovehammers is their rabid fan base who call themselves "Hammerheads". Their loyalty is viral and will ultimately propel this act into the mainstream.
Murder on My Mind encapsulates the Lovehammers' arrival as an act that sweeps aside the mope for pure sweat and energy. For all you technophiles out there, this is not a 3-song download on your iPod. Murder collects the best elements of grunge and hard rock with a twist of punk that stems from the pure adrenaline the band possesses. The horsepower alone on the record is convincing enough to keep it on the rotation list. It sounds as if the group expends every ounce of potency in their beings to purge the 10 tracks from their instruments.
Singer Casey is the straw that stirs the drink and his vocals punctuate every track with a sonic layer of pure passion. Several of the songs like "The Tunnel", and "Say You're Sorry" end with the singer pouring out his heart and lungs with vocal interludes that extend the verse effortlessly.
The grunge influence is pervasive on tracks like "Eye’s Can’t See" and "Wait For No One". When Casey belts out "Now I know how it feels to be so low", I was reminded of the early grunge gods Mother Love Bone and the vulnerability of the late Andrew Wood’s voice. Once the album hits its stride, an upsurge of punk is heard on "Better Off (Walk Away)". Driven by a jittery drumbeat, the Hammers come off like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones complete with a chanting chorus that involves the entire foursome.
Mid-album, we’re greeted with "Clouds", the obligatory balled that balances out most traditional hard rock records. (Who here didn’t love "Patience" by Guns 'N Roses or "Home Sweet Home" by the Crue?) "Clouds" feels like a post sex cuddle and allows some breathing space for the aggression that dominates Murder.
The remaining songs play out like a skilled lover, surrendering a second session of lustful abandon. “This Town” is the disk's standout track. It’s loud and jarring but hitches a plodding interlude towards the song's end, deconstructing and rebuilding the tempo for a cathartic climax. Murder on my Mind ends with the song "Low-Life Insurance (Let’s Get Wasted)". The track is clearly a tilt of the hat to the decadence of rock and roll. Billy Sawilchik’s sleazy guitar chords frame the chorus of "let’s get wasted", thrusting the track into contention for the party anthem of the year. (Did you hear that Andrew WK?)
When I fondly look back at the era that produced some of my modern musical heroes, I realize that it wasn’t so much that the music went out of style, but rather that the bands crashed and burned far too young in their journeys. Fans are left only to imagine what Nirvana or Alice in Chains would be putting out right now if their singers didn’t die so needlessly.
This is even more reason why we crave the Lovehammers. We need them to bring out the future "Hammerheads" that have been locked up for too long, awaiting the heavy sounds of the not-so-distant past to fill our ears once again.
The Lovehammers will play at Metro Jan. 10 and will appear on DDMI Studios' "The Music Show" in January.
