Labels: Boss Tuneage – Unsane Asylum
Review by: Andy Malcolm
It says here that HDQ have not released any music for 23 years. That’s a long time. I have vague recollections of picking up one of their records around the time I was getting into Leatherface (late 90s) and not being that impressed by it, but seeing as a bunch of them were in Leatherface maybe I was just being a jerk. Anyway, two new songs here, and title track “Hand Me Downs” is the pick. This is a corker, a belting, traditional UK melodic punker, kicking off with a super emo intro that could have been on a Bob Tilton 7″ or some shit. Just getting ready to tug on the shirt when the vocalist comes in and starts wailing away. It took me a short while to get on the wave length with these vocals, but once the chorus kicks in I am totally sold and can imagine being 4 pints in and down the front and just being super into it. This is a fine song, absolutely nailing the melancholy flavour of the genre, with lyrics that totally fit in with the 4 pints in state, singing “I MISS YOU. I MISS YOU!” and so on. On the flip is “Toronto” which isn’t quite such a hit to these ears, it’s not bad, but they do a ska bit in the middle … yeah. A ska bit. Other than that it’s pretty good.
There’s an LP due out by the looks of it, and from this 7″ it’s going to be worth keeping an ear out for.