I remember someone showing me a review of the 'Modern Bodies' album by NME; I don't think I've ever laughed so much in my life. They slated it. Before you read on let me make this clear, I love this band, and like most things that I love, I am extremely critical of them. Their last album 'Modern Bodies' is without a doubt one of the best albums from last year. Hawk Eyes (formerly known as Chickenhawk) are a band from Leeds and like most awesome signed bands in Leeds, they come to us via Brew Records. What stands out the most about them is that they don't try to be anything they're not. This is them, this is their sound and if you don't like it, then you know where the door is. This attitude and their sound is welcome, there is too much out there that tries to fit into 'the scene' which in turn makes it sound bland, like everything else. This is gutsy, this will kick you in the face, knock out all your teeth and you will thank it for doing it.
Their music has a certain complexity that is not like any others, their layering with their guitar, bass and underrated drums, as well as the different depths of Paul Astick's vocals (which come in perfectly with the music), really does differ from anything else. He has such an amazing range, which again, is flawless, yet he makes sound so natural and easy to accomplish. On this latest release, Paul's singing is cleaner than previously. The lack of metal commercialness in their sound blended in with the heavy riffs and underlying punk of their sound is hard to compare to anything else. Their sound is rare and unique, 'Which Hunt' is 3mins 27secs of what we have come to love and admire from them.
The song starts off with a simple riff and the drums pounding hard before halting into complete silence. The riffs are non stop, the vocals seethe and scream. This is reminiscing of their previous work, and yet it's not. There's not much room for restraint here, this is not as heavy, not quite commercial but very catchy in comparison to some of their previous work, yet again you can hear their maturity in their complex sounds that I don't know any others bands that do this, not even badly. Their boundary-pushing creativity is less apparent, only because they make this sound effortless.
Lyrically, not sure if it's just me reading too much into it after the past week. The theme on this song is very interesting, seemingly about possibly brainwashing; "for your time, all I ask in return is for a piece of your mind, consequence by the waste side, stick with me and it will all be fine ......" I think it fits pretty well with current affairs, then again, like previously stated, this is more likely the lyrics being overanalysed.
They would not be who they are today without their drummer Matt Reid, he was the last one to join the band, without him they wouldn't be complete. They are such an amazing unit. They are well known for their riffs and if you follow them on Twitter, you would have read that they are proud of this. Matts talent is seriously underrated.
This is a pleasingly ferocious debut for their latest EP, due out in November in conjunction with their 13 date UK tour with Turbowolf and The James Cleaver Quintet. This will be closely followed by a new album due to be released early next year. Highly recommended if you like music, any music. If you are a music fan, you can not appreciate their work, it is loud, chaotic and brilliant.
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They would not be who they are today without their drummer Matt Reid, he was the last one to join the band, without him they wouldn't be complete. They are such an amazing unit. They are well known for their riffs and if you follow them on Twitter, you would have read that they are proud of this. Matts talent is seriously underrated.
