Album Review: The Hurricanes - "Look Out! It's The Hurricanes"

 

Had the Hurricanes reared their heads above ground some time around 2000 or so in the wake of the Hives and the Strokes breaking through then you suspect they'd have made a pretty penny for themselves. Their sound is similar to the scuzzed up garage rock (think the Who or the heavier end of the Kinks' repertoire with added distortion pedals) that was briefly in vogue in the early years of the millennium and if you spent those years listening to the likes of the Hellacopters, the D4, Jet etc then I think it's fair to say that songs like Take A Ride Tonight and Trapdoor might trigger a few memories for you.

However, the Hurricanes can also ease off the pedal a bit and stretch the songs over two minutes for a bit of variety. Unfortunately it's when they do this on the likes of Don't Hold On that things seem to come unstuck a bit as while the band keep things admirably tight throughout, the Howlin' Pelle Almqvist style vocals don't really suit the more mid-paced numbers as well as they do the faster punkier likes of Dancing On The Rubble or the Iggy-esque One For Sanctimony. Hopefully this is just the sound of a relatively new band (Look Out! is a debut album after all) working the inconsistencies out of their sound and properly getting a handle on things. That said, the stripped down New Contenders sees them nailing the mid-paced formula pretty well and probably represents the direction they should be looking to go in.

More an album by a band who sound like they could have a bit of potential going forward than an instant classic, Look Out! is nevertheless a competent first effort. Give these guys a bit of time to pin down their sound properly and watch 'em fly on album number two hopefully.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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