Monday, November 12, 2007

The Pretender



Alright, I’m finally doing it. I’m reviewing the We All Have Hooks for Hands album. It seems a little nerdy, (because so many of them attend the same school as me, and I see them fairly frequently) but I’m doing it anyway.

Their first (and only) album is out on Afternoon Records, and you can usually catch them playing at least once a month in the Sioux Falls area. I first got The Pretender (or at least most of it) last May, and it literally has not left my CD player for more than a day since then. It is an incredibly addicting album. The songs are incredibly catchy, filled with “Oh’s” and “Whoa-oh’s” galore, not to mention witty lyrics and memorable music. There are nine members in the band on this album, including three guitarists, a bass player, two drummers, two keyboard/trumpet players, and a violinist. Most of the songs center around partying in small towns, something which (at least for me) is very relatable.

Standouts of the album are “Oh, I’d Expect” (Well I’m sure you’ll reminisce/about the timing of this/You always thought apologies were for frauds), “On & On” (Mistitled “Ghosts and Strangers) (We go on and on about being alone/We go on and on about being alone), and “The Man Trying to Outfox Us All” (You held your ties with drugs and lies/You missed a note with all your wives/And life’s a joke with no punchline/But you’re alright, yeah you’re alright).

It is a perfect album to turn the volume all the way up in your car and just belt out the lyrics with, and one that I really can’t stop listening to. I give it, yeah, that’s right, a 10.0.

3 comments:

Miles Rausch said...

I didn't know these guys were local! Knowing that now, I'm relatively shocked to find that they were a recent selection for the KEXP.org Song of the Day podcast. I'll have to check them out.

Anonymous said...

hey percy

Nathan.Hoffman@usd.edu said...

You've found me.