Hard Pipe Hitters are a five piece skacore band from Las Vegas, Nevada. Since forming in 2010 they have released two full length albums as well as a demo. Their latest album, This Is Rock Bottom, was released in November 2017. As a lover of skacore I was very keen to check this out.
The first song on This Is Rock Bottom is named Kelly Thomas Got A Bum Wrap. The track begins with an audio clip which talks about a gentleman named Kelly Thomas who was a victim of police brutality. The song then comes in properly with the Hard Pipe Hitters giving their strong views on the subject. Lead singer Kiel shouts out his lyrics with so much passion and venom it's difficult not to get caught up in the song. Up next is Ministry Of Truth. This short song looks at modern society and of the brainwashing that the powers that be partake in. Hard Pipe Hitters' bass player Paco really gets his chance to shine on the song with some nice breakdowns for him to show his stuff. Despite its relatively short time span, the song gets the message across well and seemingly has no wasted beat. The third song on the album is titled Life's A Joke (And So Am I), which again starts with an audio clip, that I feel like is from a film but there is no information to say which. Answers in the comments, please. Basically the person in the audio clip colourfully talks about not caring about anyone or himself. Once the songs starts properly we are treated to some fast paced hardcore filled with anger and plenty of opportunities to shout along.
No Long Goodbyes is a break up song. It's about that awkward situation you can get in whilst breaking up with someone, where you promise to be friends despite knowing it's not going to work out. Lyrically the song is superb, it's very hard hitting but so incredibly relatable. Hard Pipe Hitters sure are fans of the audio clip! No Long Goodbyes finishes with a clip from the Kevin Smith film Chasing Amy where Silent Bob speaks some wisdom. Best 2 Out Of 3 is a humorous song about your penis not working properly and wanting Viagra to prove yourself. The song adds some childish humour to an album that's been quite heavy so far. The sixth song on This Is Rock Bottom is named Definition Of Success. This track is much slower and it could almost be described as a bit of a math rock song, but with a whole lot of punk rock attitude. As interesting as the song sounds, I can't say I'm hugely into it. The stop-start nature made it difficult to really get into. Definition Of Success is about doing what you want to do with your life and ignoring the people who tell you to do things differently. Angers One Helluva Drug sees the band revert to the fast paced hardcore and finally some ska sneaks into the Hard Pipe Hitters sound. This is where I think the band are truly at their best musically. Kiel sings about being addicted to getting angry and finding himself pushing friends and family away.
2 Party System Blues is a political song where the Hard Pipe Hitters sing about their frustration at not liking either party that ran in the 2016 presidential election. Despite the punk rock anger that the song is packed with, there is a nice bluesy feel to the song as well. This gives the song a bit of a fresher sound and prevents This Is Rock Bottom from becoming stale. The ninth song Divine Blackmail attacks religious leaders who use celebrities to help promote their beliefs. Musically the song has quite a dark tone, reminding me slightly of 80s metal songs with Kiel's broken throat snarling vocal style helping Hard Pipe Hitters retain their unique sound. Morrissey's A F****** C*** is the title of the next song. What I immediately took from this song is that Hard Pipe Hitters aren't fans of Morrissey. During the song they talk about him ripping off fans by cancelling shows, ripping off his bandmates, forcing his beliefs on others and generally not being a good guy. Please be warned, this is expletive heavy song so it's probably not one you want to listen to in front of your nan! Depsite the hatred of Morrissey the Hard Pipe Hitters do state that Johnny Marr is "not such a bad guy."
New Age Axis is another really angry political track. On this one the band sing about how many leaders have a very old fashioned view on the ever evolving world and how it seems as if more places are returning to being a dictatorship. I really enjoyed the song's ending with Kiel's voice showing even more anger and intensity than ever before, this really powers home his feelings. The penultimate song on This Is Rock Bottom is named My Anathema. The song begins with some almost cult like music before we move into the intro where Kiel screams out the opening lyrics in a way that quickly pulls you into the song. After a little googling I discovered that anathema means "a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine." On this track Hard Pipe Hitters sing about their anathema proudly, happily fighting back against the religious beliefs that might have been forced upon them. The album concludes with a bonus cover of The Dead Boys classic Sonic Reducer. Ending the album with a great sing-a-long moment.
So the tags on Bandcamp describe Hard Pipe Hitters as a ska and hardcore punk band. So in my head a skacore band. However, there is only one song that really has some ska elements to it. That did not stop my enjoyment of This Is Rock Bottom though. It's an album of 13 hard hitting but fun hardcore songs that are not to be ignored.
Stream and download This Is Rock Bottom here: https://hardpipehitters.bandcamp.com/
Like Hard Pipe Hitters here: http://www.facebook.com/hardpipehitters
This review was written by Colin Clark.
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