Punk’s not dead, yet it is getting a little stiff.
Do we really need more play-by-the-numbers politically charged punk rock bands? This is the perfect rhetorical question for The Hollow Points who fill their songs with rhetoric. It just begs to be asked, so now the plot dictates somebody answer. So it might as well be I.
The Hollow Points are from Seattle and with all of that rain and the threat of Mt. Rainer blowing its top someday they’ve got two good reasons to be mad right there. Most of the songs on The Black Spot on Disaster Records rant against the establishment be it government or corporations. To the band’s credit they keep it fair and balanced as this snippet from “The Sickness” shows:
“Republicans and Democrats you corrupt and delegate and decide our country’s fate, I don’t know how I’m supposed to choose between two evils that I hate.”
There are a few obligatory mentions of the war in Iraq and Halliburton, but the band is smart enough to cloak much of their anti-establishmentarianism lyrics in generalities. A song like “The Black Spot” is wise to just say “Live up to your disgrace! No respect for the human race!” Angst like this will be just as timeless 20 years from now.
Sound wise, The Hollow Points biggest antecedent is probably Social Distortion. Songs are fast, but not too fast and generally short on dynamics. That’s okay; you’re usually not looking for dynamics with hard charging amplified three chords and a cloud of dust type punk. Let the poseurs play around with big musical variations, we’re talking the proper use of subtlety here.
Skateboarding, punk legend Duane Peters of U.S. Bombs produced and guitars really growl in his mix. The Hollow Points do stretch it out on a few choice cuts to prove that variety can sometimes be nice. My favorite track is “Sleaze of Seven Seas” which adds more than a dash of New Wave leavening to the full bore assault. “My Misfortune” incorporates a Spanish flamenco feel into something that quickly heads into Rancid territory, while “Pieces of Eight” is from the pirate/Irish genre that seems to pop up every now and then. Luckily it’s the last song and can be easily omitted.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
Wally - I do think there are a number of great punk and punk-pop acts out there today (The Distillers, The Hives, Von Bondies, Rancid, Voodoo Glowskulls, Suicide Macines, etc.) though I agree that 2005 is perhaps not the greatest year for punk rock ever seen.
Nice review.
2 - Temple Stark
WB,
Liked the ending
I launched this on the world - or at least the part of the world that scours Advance.net for the (family-friendly) cream of the BC Web log.
Here's the link. Sorry here.
- Thanks. Temple
3 - wally bangs
Thanks, Temple. This was a strange review for me. I set out with the intentions of writing only about 300 words which for me is the bare minimum for a review and the words kept flowing.