Rejoice! The kings of the New York garage punk scene are back with a new 4 track ep. It's their first release since last year's Heads cassingle and it's fabulous. It's titled Use Me and the 7" is up for pre sale via Toxic State Records : https://www.toxicstaterecords.com/records/hank-wood-and-the-hammerheads-use-me If you want the digital version head in this direction... https://hankwoodandthehammerheads.bandcamp.com/album/use-me-7
We only have to wait about 10 seconds until we get one of Hank's trademark grunts. It comes during a relatively restrained intro to track 1, Look At You. Almost straight after this though the pace picks up and we get exactly what we clicked play for. Top notch ramblings from a man who to me uses his voice pretty much like an extra instrument. I've not always been able to work out the lyrics but they aren't all that important truth be told, these songs are all about the groove. You can easily get swept up as vocals, guitar, drums and organ combine to create a wall of sound.
All 4 tracks are winners, possibly Tomorrow edging it as my favourite (I'll play it on this week's Just Some Punk Songs show). I'd say that the production on this ep might just soften a few edges compared with early releases though I think they've been edging slowly in this direction over the years. It's still up tempo, still exciting but maybe just a little smoother. I doubt we'd get it anytime soon but I can imagine Mr Wood one day releasing a Nick Cave style orchestral record.
For now though, enjoy this. It's called Look At You...
