Recommended Aussie Tunes:Psycroptic | The new single "A Fragile Existence" | Listen

Album Reviews : Hammers – Kicking Goals

By on August 16, 2020

The first thing you’ll notice about the new six track EP from Queensland heavy rockers Hammers is the sheer Aussie-ness of it all. And not just in the true blue blokey delivery and vernacular of singer Fish, it’s also in the overall aesthetic. This music hearkens back to a bygone glory era of Aussie music. It belongs, and reigns supreme, in the sweaty, sticky-floored, beer-soaked rock n roll pubs of this wide, brown land of ours (although sadly not in 2020, apparently).

However, if you dig beneath the surface a little, you’ll soon see that this is no simplistic, four on the floor bogan rock act either, there is real craft being pursued here, real songwriting nous underneath the ocker bravado. They have taken heavy blues rock, supercharged it and injected elements that are all their own and decidedly modern. So it’s going to appeal to people who love AC/DC, The Angels and Rose Tattoo as well as fans of the more recently formed gritty Aussie rock acts.

One of the main contributing factors to this is the fact that two of the members were in the gone but far from forgotten Queensland band Helm, a band that was both bludgeoningly heavy and super classy at the same time. So some of that vibe has made the transition from the old to the new.

Ultimately, viewing the release in isolation, Kicking Goals is five fun, ballsy-arse rock n roll tunes, laced with Aussie swagger and charm and delivered with an exuberance that is truly infectious. Then there is closer Last Breath, a sad final note from someone who’s lived life to the fullest and is soon to leave this earth. It’s an unusual choice to close the EP, but it works a treat and provides sweet, melancholic contrast to the rawk that precedes it.

If you dig your rock sounds loud, tough and delivered by a band that truly knows what they’re doing and where they’re going, you’ll kick plenty of ball-bursting six pointers with this release.

Band: Hammers
EP: Kicking Goals
Year: 2020
Genre: Heavy Blues Rock
Label: Independent
Origin: Australia

About

Rod Whitfield is a Melbourne-based writer and retired musician who has been writing about music since 1995. He has worked for Team Rock, Beat Magazine, themusic.com.au, Heavy Mag, Mixdown, The Metal Forge, Metal Obsession and many others. He has written and published his memoirs of his life and times in the music biz, and also writes books, screenplays, short stories, blogs and more.