The Rip - I Heart Hiroshima

Some of the best musical dynamics are created by three-pieces, anyone with half an ounce of musical talent can add sound to the silences with a lot of overdriven noise. Creating a full and interesting sound with the amount of instruments a three piece can potentially play, now that’s a real challenge, especially when you stick to pretty much one guitar sound and use overdubs sparingly.It’s a talent that a lot of bands from Brisbane seem to possess and have formed into a sound that ‘I heart Hiroshima’ were one of the first to perfect and popularise in recent times, so it’s refreshing to see and hear that several years, one album and extensive touring later, they’re still doing it exceedingly well. ‘The Rip’ is their second album, clocking in at just under 45 minutes, it’s a concise, snappy and ‘agitated’, a wonderfully descriptive description of the album taken from their own press release (a rarity indeed) that sums up the up-and-down dynamics of the songs, like a complex cocktail with many subtle undercurrents that needs a good ‘agitating’ before serving. A well planned and arranged blend of precise percussion that forms the core of what gives ‘I Heart Hiroshima’ their sparkling dynamic, no straight and simple rock beats plodding along for three minutes. Layered on top are chugging fuzzy rhythm guitars, chiming, almost keyboard like lead guitars, alternated lead vocal duties, each band member adding their own personality to each track and any vocalist who can make ‘yup’ contain (seemingly) so much frustrated meaning in ‘Got Out’ deserves special mention. ‘The Rip’ is not-so-much beautifully, but appropriately produced in glorious lo-fi by none other than Andy Gill (formerly Gang of Four) who were one of the principal bands to hone this sparse, stripped back genre of music the first time around, so an almost ideal pairing of past and present to create an almost flawless alternative-pop record.

Published in Inpress