Friday, July 5, 2013

REVIEW: The Hunting Club - Holiday Beach EP


The Hunting Club has been making music since 2007, but the Holiday Beach EP is their first official release.  The Hunting Club was initially founded by Tim Damon (guitar/vocals) and Matt St. Clair (guitar/vocals) and in 2011 added Josh McCormick (keyboards), Ray McCoy (bass) and John Maiello (drums). In addition to their twin guitars and soulful, reverb-laced vocals, also notable are McCormick's terrific, somewhat understated keyboards (on "These Are The Days", specifically) and the backbeat and vocal harmonies. This is a tight band, clearly having a great time playing together.

Here's "Shouldn't Be So Easy":





The little blips and beeps with the keyboards are a nice contrast to the warm, sort of retro tone on the guitars and vocals on this song, and the changes in tempo add to a sort of melancholy feel in the middle of the song, until they cut loose with the guitars on the last half. "Still Sorta New" has a little more of a country feel - they play it slow until picking up about halfway through and putting the guitars in gear.



"Wolf Pack" shows they can play a blues tempo very well, until they get the guitars screaming into almost punk/metal territory in the last minute or so. The closing track, "This Is (How I Know)" actually veers into a sort of afro-pop guitar for a little while, but in the end the twin electric guitars take over again. Just in case you're wondering, what I like most about this record is their willingness to rock out on the guitars, at some point, on every track.

This is a terrific debut from a rock band that is showing very good songwriting and excellent chops. You can buy a limited edition vinyl from the label, Hood Cabin or buy directly from Bandcamp.

The Hunting Club Facebook
Bandcamp
Hood Cabin Records

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