Review: I Heart Hiroshima - Punks EP

I was a bit slack on this one, it's been out for around a month now and I hadn't got around to reviewing it, but the imminent release of I Heart Hiroshima's album has forced my hand.

I Heart Hiroshima have, in the space of two years, evolved into one of Brisbane's most talented bands. Anyone who has witnessed their live shows knows how dynamic the band can be. Often in the music industry, however, bands like this have trouble making the transfer to the studio and reproducing their live sound on record. Thankfully I Heart Hiroshima is not one of those bands.

The EP kicks off with the title track, possibly the best (and longest) cut I Heart Hiroshima have recorded so far. The stomping beat, topped off with Susie's half-sung, half-yelled vocals, drives the song along until Matt's excellent chorus (accompanied later in the song by Cam) brings the song home. As always the intertwining guitars are present, but rather then repeating as in most of the band's previous songs the boys continuously alter their riffs and hooks. The result is a song that at times sounds wrong but constantly sounds great.

The second track is 'The Cover', a song which has become my favourite I Heart Hiroshima song (at least until I hear the recorded version of 'Surgery'). A much more upbeat, and, funnily enough, punkier song then 'Punks', it features some of the best (and more discernible) lyrics of their small back catalog.

The next two tracks hark back to the early days of the band. 'Instrumental1' is a bare bones track recorded prior to the bands lineup change. It is definitely a weak link on the EP though it is interesting to hear how similar the band sounded to a number of other bands around town who share a similar instrumental post-punk sound. The last track is a re-recording of 'London In Love'. The track is an improvement on the previous recording, with the guitars beefed up and the track sounding decidedly less 'lo-fi'.

While the band is sticking to their basic formula, it is also obvious that they aren't resting on their laurels. 'Punks' and 'The Cover' are both big steps forward for the band and hopefully their album, Tuff Teef (which is being released on the 11th of August), follows suite. As a taster here's the video clip for 'Punks'.