Five years is a long time to wait. Since this Gainesville quartet’s 2012 effort Exister, we’ve had a world turned upside down by various horrifying upheavals of one sort or another, with a general overall feeling of malaise and unrest, like things are slipping out of control. With this in mind, it perhaps served as no small comfort to hear that a new Hot Water Music record was on its way, as some small consolation against the noise. There’s something about their tough, rasping vocalising and grinding guitar attack that always lends an air of weather-beaten gravitas, helped in no small part by the charismatic guitar/vocal duo of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard.
And so it is with Light It Up – notably the first Hot Water Music album produced by the band since Fuel For the Hate Game. Sure, this is an album from men over the cusp of forty, and this isn’t the same band who gave us ‘220 Years’ or ‘Manual’. But that’s not a criticism; the advance of time might have slowed their attack a little, but the hooks and the songwriting are as dependably powerful as they’ve always been.
Opener ‘Complicated’ is, by the band’s own admission, reminiscent of Midnight Oil[1] with its ringing pedal toned riff cutting through the heady atmosphere in a similar manner to the Australian rocker’s classic song ‘Dreamworld’. This is somewhat fitting, given that Hot Water Music covered the song previously and did so with style, arguably rivalling the original. ‘Complicated’ is a sharp critique of the narcissistic modern age, and it’s thrilling to hear Ragan’s smoky howl tear strips off the vacuous decline of society; “We are only animals ravaging a fragile world away.” It’s a very strong start, so it’s a little unfortunate that the title track which shortly follows is a little disappointing, in spite of its barrelling Bad Religion-esque power chording, with an oddly delivered vocal line in the chorus that robs it of its power.
However, it’s a misstep that’s out of the way early; things shoot back up right after with the one-two punch of ‘Show Your Face’ and ‘Never Going Back’, the latter an outstanding, rabble-rousing affirmation of moving on and accepting life’s stresses; ‘Rabbit Key’ is grounded by another satisfyingly crunching riff from Wollard. But then around mid-way through, things suddenly and wonderfully jump back about sixteen years to 2001, because ‘Vultures’ sounds like a brutal and stunningly powerful from that record. Snarling single-note riffing grounds the verses while hardcore roars tear through the chorus; a middle eight gives you time before the chorus thunders back in to crush all in its wake. It is probably worth buying the album for this song alone.
The back half of the record is by and large dominated by Ragan, with slower numbers in the vein of ‘Drag My Body’ from Exister, and he’s playing to his strengths with his thunderous voice giving weight to the material in a way that a less mature band could not, while Wollard slips in two tuneful Husker Du-ish uptempo rockers in the form of ‘Overload’ and ‘Hold Out’, before the album winds up with a tender reflection on human resilience in the eye of adversity with ‘Take You Away’.
I don’t think anyone will be surprised to find out that this isn’t Hot Water Music’s best album. That honour goes to – in my book – 2003’s Caution. It isn’t perhaps the album that will convert new listeners to their cause. But it is without a doubt a worthy entry to their canon, as the band play to their strengths while mixing things up enough to stop it being a dull retread. They’re older, wiser, and still undeniably pissed off, but they’re not giving up yet. And neither should any of us. As Ragan howls in ‘Bury Your Idols’; “You're the only one that’ll mobilize your dream”.
Words to live by.
[1] http://www.brooklynvegan.com/stream-hot-water-musics-complicated/
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This review was written by Omar Ramlugon.
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