Hotlung-In Spite of album review. FFO: Hardcore/Post-HC and all the great stuff..Epic.

October 05, 2024

Hotlung-In Spite of album review. FFO: Hardcore/Post-HC and all the great stuff..Epic.

Hotlung-In Spite of album review. FFO: Hardcore/Post-HC and all the great stuff.Epic.

Sometimes I hate life, we get busy between work, family, bands, zine yada yada blah blah. I state this because requests we have for so much music have been flat-out and I have to put releases aside, to make sure I give them both the space to be listened to and then a balanced review. One of these has been one of the best debut albums I have heard in ages. Hot Lung is a post-punk/hardcore gem from Santa Cruz, California with two well-known musos in Kelly from Daxma and Joe from Fury 66 and The Deathless.

So you know you will get a raucous mix of melody and jarring(in a great way)riffs that will drill into your skull, we are talking about a solid memorable album of seven dazzling anthems. It drifts between indie rock and mostly Melodic hardcore and post-hardcore/punk.

I love the flavours across this album, how it has gorgeous indie-style harmonies, but can also bounce to a hectic moshpit frenzy. Not only do the songs sound super emotive, but the songwriting on this release is incredible, take the epic 6th Track Sweet/Warm. The main part is a subtle and bouncy indie pop, but the placement of vocals mixed with very resonant bass and drums make this a classic. Then add a searing Descendents or Husker Du-like bridge/chorus and jangly riffs and you are on the floor with awe. This song really showcases how magnificent both vocalists are and how tuned in the whole band is with each other.

Never Home is a wild opener with its duelling guitars and the huge vigour of Kelly's vocals. I have to say I haven't such a unique and confident voice like this since Kathleen of Bikini Kill or Shirley Manson of Garbage. The outro is wild the transition to spiky vitriol really sends the track out in an explosive way. Prepare for more energetic intrigue as the album unfolds.

El Dorado is excellent and super confident with its soaring Smashing Pumpkins-like riffs and the clever pockets of tension work so well. The buildups are cut by acidic riffs and like the opener, the vocal interplay really takes you on a journey and this would be sensational live. You can literally imagine the crowd singalongs from the first time you hear this heavenly beast of a song. Again the mix of The Breeders vs old DC hardcore(like the OG emo hardcore; think Embrace, Ignition, Dag Nasty etc)is like a dream for me. Hot Lung is one clever band with high-level skills.

Golden Son treats us with a ripping opening vocal and yet again we commence on a wild ride of fantastic melody, epic chord changes and just straight-up fun. That said, like every track there is attention to detail, even in the well-thought-out lyrics. There is a personal touch to the craft and it shines for that reason. Picking a fave track on an album is like picking your favourite child or dog, but alas 520 Taylor is the fave at the time of this review. The super-engaging vocals are as magnificent as the dominating riff work on this gem. Again another track that is hard to slot into a single genre, all I know is: this rocks hard, the vocals are majestic and again we have a songwriting masterclass from start to end.

Dead End bangs just as hard, as it is a glorious ride that reminded me of both Veruca Salt/Hole but also Samiam/Hot Water Music. And that is the magic flame this fantastic band has, the joys of brilliant indie tracks underpinned by raw post-hardcore leanings and super solid song structure. And so many clever musical hooks, the bass and drums really drive the band forward, but the big magic is the dual vocal attack, no doubt.

On to the last track, as I have prematurely already spoken of the wonders of Sweet/Warm. Vines strongly and more aggressively closes out the debut album in the finest manner. Very bombastic and stomping melodies bounce with frenzied guitar warfare backed heavily by very forceful drums and guitar work. This definitely reminded me of classic Hole and the aforementioned DC emo hardcore. There are many varied and super valid strong points of this album, but the key tenets are radiant harmonies and hooks, astute songwriting and catchy songs from start to finish.

Every track is intelligent and vivid as hell and it's a solid testament to modern alternative music; be it post-hardcore/punk or alt-rock. In Spite Of is an instant classic, that unearths more audio gold with each listen.

Get it now:

https://hotlung.bandcamp.com/album/in-spite-of