Hormones – Dead Royalties (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It seems very apt that in a week when every music publication worth its salt is reminiscing on the god-like legacy of Kurt Cobain, to feature a band who have picked up the grunge torch and refashioned it in their own image. After cutting his teeth in math-rockers Sailors and later Russian Blue, Alex Share’s considerable abilities to create infectious hook lines and riffs shows no sign of waning. Far from it and the proof of that can be found on their e.p. Hormones, which is released tomorrow via Secret Chord Records.

It is a collection of songs that are forged from the same head on clash of pop sensibility and primordial rock and roll urges that was at the heart of the grunge scene but if you think that the band are mere copyists or heading down a rose-tinted nostalgia trip, then think again.  Whilst the core sound may doff its cap to labels such as Sub-Pop, their earlier math-pop experimentations still linger around the periphery creating wonderful fine detail and throw away, one-time only musical tricks that most bands would feel the need to build a whole song around. So grunge it may be, but if so, it is grunge with a university education.

As a three-piece there is a wonderful economy to the band, no room for showboating and everyone required to earn their musical keep; no fuss, no frippery, just a band getting on with the job at hand.  And considering that most of the songs on the record sound like possible singles, especially Bring out Your Dead, Sex Sells and the song that got them their record deal, Drug Cartel, it is looking like the band have already set their own benchmark very high indeed.