Hookworms // The Hum
by Maggie Danna on November 6, 2014
Posted in: Album Review, Music, Rock
The Hum, Hookworms’ latest album, continues their tradition of noisy, droning, and lively neo-psych, full of the feedback and strong bass lines we’ve come to expect from their past works. I truly love drone, but find a lot of drone rock is bland, overly repetitive, and dull. Hookworms is never dull. Minimalistic in spots, but always creative and intriguing, The Hum is best enjoyed all the way through as a full album. Structures vary from song to song, breaking free of the generic chorus and verse arrangement, and the pieces flow together beautifully. “On Leaving” is especially great, as is “Off Screen,” which is more relaxing and melancholy with soothing vocals in place of the usual more intense and heavily reverbed ones. “Beginners” is highly reminiscent of “Form and Function” off Pearl Mystic, Hookworms’ most recent album from 2013. The two albums also share the same composition, both having six full-length songs with three Roman numeraled interludes. The Hum continues where Pearl Mystic left off, with “iv,” “v,” and “vi,” and in many ways is a continuation of Pearl Mystic. While not as good as Pearl Mystic, which was mind-blowingly good and voted album of the year by Drowned in Sound, Loud and Quiet, and BrooklynVegan, The Hum is definitely a brilliant album worthy of your listen.
Best Tracks: 2, 5, 7
RILY: Tame Impala, The Wytches, Fuck Buttons, Spacemen 3
Grade: B+
The Hum will be released on Domino Records on November 10th. In the meantime, it can be streamed here at NPR First Listen:
http://www.npr.org/2014/11/02/359335639/first-listen-hookworms-the-hum
Maggie Danna hosts a show called Weasel Starship Tuesdays, 3:30-5:00 pm on WRMC.
Still not as good as the new Wampire album though……….
Then again, nothing is