Hummer are a three piece band from Warrington and Newton in the North of England. Consisting of Will Atkinson (bass/vocals), Joe Watson (guitar/vocals) and Matthew Cain (drums), Hummer have been getting rave reviews from the punk music press for their brand of catchy and melodic punk rock music. On March 30th Hummer released their latest EP Budweiser And Butter on Horn And Hoof Records. Let's see what the fuss is about.
Budweiser and Butter begins with the song Daisies. The song surprises me with how much harder musically it is compared to many of their catchy melodic punk contemporaries. There is an element of alternative rock music mixed into their sound which gives Hummer's sound a fantastic edge to it. I also enjoyed the dual vocals of Atkinson and Watson, this gives the song a huge energetic boost. Daisies is about growing up, thinking about how you lived your life so far and deciding to have as good a time as you possibly can. A great, positive start to the EP. Up next is title track, Budweiser And Butter. This song is more what I imagined for Hummer's sound. It's a bit softer in sound and has this great guitar line that really hooked me into the song. That and the extremely catchy chorus that begs to be sung along with. The track is about being in a bad mood but realising that things could be worse and pulling yourself out of it. I'm loving all of this positivity.
I adored the high tempo way that the vocals on the third song, Turpentine, are delivered. It drew me into the song immediately. I found myself nodding along uncontrollably and having a fantastic time listening to the track. Hummer write some really wordy songs but do a fantastic job of getting their message across quite succinctly. Turpentine is about trying to figure out what is wrong with you, why are you so bitter and depressed for seemingly no reason. And that it's time to try and sort yourself out. Workahol sees Hummer get heavier on a song about being addicted to your work and forgetting about having a life away from it. This song is a definite highlight of Budweiser And Butter. There is a great amount of passion and emotion pouring out of the song, you can tell that Hummer really believe every word that they are singing. The fifth song is named This Won't End Well For You. The beginning to this song starts slowly and expertly builds towards the opening vocals. The verse is slower than what we've had previously on the album but the chorus hits us with an Anthony Joshua like punch. The song is about realising that you've been set up for failure but knowing that you will come out on top in the end.
Stone Cold Wasted is another song that starts slowly but builds up to the meat and gravy of the song brilliantly. The opening verse is very bass heavy, creating a wonderful backdrop as the vocalist paints a picture of a night out on the lash by yourself. That's what the song is about, going out by yourself and having a merry old time despite being a "loner." As someone who used to go to a lot of gigs by myself and having a wonderful time I found this song really relatable. You can have plenty of fun by yourself. The penultimate song on Budweiser And Butter is titled Invested. Invested makes great use of Hummer's two lead vocalists with both taking turns on verses. I imagine this dynamic is great fun live. Of all of the songs on this EP, this would definitely be the one I'd be most excited to see at a gig. The song's ending, how it slows down and builds to a big finale with superb harmonies, such a great way to finish the song. The final track on the EP is Unreasonable. This song is about being accused of being unreasonable but not knowing why. This is a big sing-a-long song that makes it perfect to finish the EP. Really finishing things on a big high.
I'd never heard of Hummer before I was told about this EP but they've now made a massive impression on me. I love how positive Budweiser And Beer is. I often find that this kind of gruff, melodic punk rock can sometimes be a bit on the downcast side but that is certainly not the case here. Take a chance on Hummer, I've no doubts that they will brighten your day.
Stream and download Budweiser And Beer here: https://hummerpunkrock.bandcamp.com/
Like Hummer here: https://www.facebook.com/hummerpunkrock/
This review was written by Colin Clark.
No comments:
Post a Comment