Hogwash

Sticker Paralysis

Written by: PP on 11/11/2010 02:21:08

I'm in punk mode tonight friends, and here's one release anyone with a lust for melody-induced, breakneck speed skate punk should consider adding to their record collection. The band in question is Hogwash from Paris, France, who have been around for ten years but I've failed to find any further information about them, such as how many albums they've done in the past. That's not important, however, because their new album "Sticker Paralysis" was released a few months ago to fan-acclaim across the continent.

There are two aspects that Hogwash are extremely good at: flooring the pedal so hard that it's in danger of going through the body of your car, in many circumstances competing for the title of the fastest band in history with Captain Everything (bad sound) with songs like "Safety Buzz". Circle pits, here we come. Secondly, they have a great deal of talent in writing fantastic vocal harmonies that rise and fall in high pitch melodies. No Use For A Name has been a heavy influence in this department, though Hogwash are several multiples faster in almost all songs. And as is typical to many European skate punk bands, Belvedere and This Is A Standoff are also likely influences, which gives way to my key description of Hogwash: they are like a wet dream for any punk band who counts This Is A Standoff and NUFAN among their favorites, because "Sticker Paralysis" is an excercise in taking the sound of the former in a less technical format, and embedding the harmonic choruses of the latter on top. It's a very successful formula, as has been proven by bands like Half Hearted Hero in the past, but after 13 songs of the same lightning speed d-beat in the drums, even I have to admit that some variation certainly wouldn't hurt, because 90% of the material in offer is in the same relentless speed.

That said, Hogwash are so good at writing the vocal harmonies I mentioned earlier that it's easy to forgive such a cosmetic flaw on the album. The album is packed with killer vocal-hooks and melodic guitars, so awarding it a reasonably high grade is the obvious choice to do here. It's not a revolutionary record by any means; it simply doesn't feel the need to fix what isn't broken. p.s. artwork is atrocious.

7

Download: The Fall, Safety Buzz, Waffles
For the fans of: No Use For A Name, This Is A Standoff, Half Hearted Hero
Listen: Myspace

Release date 02.06.2010
Bells On Records

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