even with going on 15 repeats of "Haunter" in one day alone, i don't feel i can do the nuance full justice, so i'm sorry. i've had this album for going on a year and i still struggle to wrap my head around Hospital Garden. and i mean that in the nicest way possible, they're an awesome band and i love this record. the grooves of this vinyl are gonna be getting weary before their time.
and for as awesome as this record is, somehow Hospital Garden's live show puts it to shame. get your ass to Chicago and find these dudes.
now, with that cop-out firmly copped-out, here's me doing Hospital Garden's "Haunter" a severe injustice.
there's a million moods in this album, and i love it. there's a feel for every moment with these short 38 minutes. tons of catchy songs, loads of great melodies and restrained howls. i don't know if this band is more punk or more indie. its punk with intelligent writing, indie with aggression like it used to have in the 80s.
"Ties"
the record kicks off with a great down, bitter kind of nostalgic feel with "Ties". the guitarist lucas' voice blends great with the bassist, sarah's. its a little light backing from her on this track, but goddamn does her clean backing vocals balance lucas' rough howl later in the track. this song is like that sense of regret that you don't mind feeling. its whiskey on a sunday morning. its long walks through your old neighborhood, photos of your ex that you find five years down the line.
"Dial Tone"
"Dial Tone" picks up the pace as that calm walk down old streets becomes more biting and aggressive. again, lucas and sarah's voices play off each other. the angelic, faintness of sarah's voice and the restrained bite of lucas' voice shows they're working with a sort of gentle-aggressive dynamic that you might find on an old Pixies record but with that said the song is so much more than a nod to any one band let alone the Pixies. this is my favorite song off the record. its restrained and aggressive like later Husker Du, but again Hospital Garden moves beyond that kind of simple comparison. i listen to this track when i need to get off the floor and out the fucking door. i put this on my record player and imagine i'm tearing my walls out with my bare hands. "Dial Tone" is feral as all hell.
"Rough Year"
"Rough Year" cuts through with the lyrical quality of Jawbreaker or Leatherface while indulging ferocious vaguely psychedelic guitar interludes, with the kind of noise-pop vibe that made Husker Du part of the alt-indie consciousness. the ferocity is balanced with verses that are restrained at first and erupt later into a scream that's hard to pin down.
"Monroe"
coming back from that raw, noise-pop is the calming "Monroe" that dials back the restrained bile of the whole album for a brief moment. its bouncy and almost peaceful. it moves through the floorboards, it comes through like warm sunlight on the last days of winter.
"Haunter"
the album returns to more feelings of gently bitter nostalgia with "Haunter" but in a more laid back poppy way, less ferocious this time but definitely welcome. the pain of this track only really seeps through at certain points considering the ferocity of "Rough Year" and "Dial Tone" just a few minutes previous.
"Cobwebs"
we come to the highlight of the b-side with "Cobwebs" where the subtle, faint quality of sarah's voice comes out and makes us wish she was truly featured more on this album. when she sings, really sings out, that morphine-drip bliss bleeds through me. dudes that spout off about how girls can't sing ought to hear this track and promptly get slapped cross-eyed for the offense. 2:36 is not long enough for this song, its been on repeat for me 5 times so far in the writing of this and the melody only draws me in more.
"Untitled 2"
the heartache comes to a head with this song. to think it could possibly get better than "Cobwebs" is maddening to have to deal with but goddamn does "Untitled 2" do it. with the slow dance, long drive home lyricism of this song, i couldnt think of a better goddamn way to end a phenomenal album. the musicianship, lyricism and complexity of this song is something else. it brings all the pain and remorse to a head. it brings back those lonely streets in old neighborhoods to new light. its sunshine in those dying winter days, and at the same time, its the lull in the heat wave. seldom can a song sum up the feel of an album but for me this is it. this song is the culmination of all those down days at the supposed end of your life (after a break-up, after a death) when you realize, through the worst of it, its not really half-bad.
this album helped me through some real rough patches at the end of my rope, it helped me to see how small so much of that hurt can be. i don't care how that sounds. i've passed the honeymoon phase with this band and this album, and i can't look back. there's a hell of a lot of injustice in this world but the fact that Hospital Garden isn't on every punk-indie kid's tongue is a goddamn shame.
check them out here:
hospital garden on bandcamp
and buy this record, you fools, best 10 bucks you'll ever spend:
Reckless Records
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