March 5, 2014 • self-released
I'm probably not the best person to tackle Super Hard Boys (oh my). This kind of hazy, psychedelic, stoner-garage rock isn't really the kind of thing I listen to on a normal basis, so forgive me if I don't overanalyze this album's musical structures and put it in some kind of metacultural context.
I don't even really like garage rock most of the time, finding a lot of it to be too derivative and simply boring to listen to. Now, I don't know if things have changed lately or if Super Hard Boys is just a lot better than most everything else I've heard. Although the standard pop structures and standard rock instrumentation form the backbone for all of the songs, there's a lot of interesting different things shoved into the songs to keep it fresh. An unexpected chord change or riff structure, some darker undertones, some surprisingly heavy riffs (e.g. "Autobahn"), and some interesting subversions like track times that range from seven minutes to less than one. Not to mention that it's actually quite a sexy album (if the track titles didn't tip you off)—"Business Time" especially.
Not that I love Super Hard Boys; it's still a genre I don't really care about and normally wouldn't give a second thought to. The songs are fine, no doubt, but not all of them are totally compelling to me, though it does have its share of good hooks and the longer, more progressive tracks (both "Flowers" and "Bloodshot Love") are very neat.
But for people who do like garage rock and don't mind a bit of the weirdness, they certainly aren't going to go wrong with this album. These guys are heading in the right direction for sure.
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