Hookworms
The Hum
November 10 2014 (Weird World)
8.5/10
Words: Alison Mack
The Leeds-based five kick out a space rock special in this follow-up to last year's 'Pearl Mystic', where it harnesses both melodic freedom as much as banging out one mean hook after another, and with the addition of new drummer JN, muscular weight is added in the beats department, particularly in evidence on ‘Radio Tokyo'.
Opener, The Impasse, is overflowing on distorted riffs and paints on the broader post punk spectrum, as MJ belts vocal bombs. It is about as far near that end as the motorik 'Beginners' and the six-minute long, hard to ignore lead single 'On Leaving' is at the other end; the latter stretching out to embrace psych drones, a glorious welter of Hammond organ, repetitious and compelling guitar lines, all ending on one big humungus blow-out.
In fact, the album dips and dives between the distortion and motorik, to the quieter undercurrent down tempo of 'Off Screen' (where melody allows MJ to exhibit a softer, low in the mix vocal pitch), and the interlinking numbered instrumentals iv, v and vi, which repeat the i, ii, iii pattern of the previous album and act like invisible fuse wires through which course the electricity of the body of the album.
Hookworms can end the year safe in the knowledge that they have turned out a late runner to rank high on 2014's 'Best of...' lists.
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