Working from the same hallowed blueprint as German band The Ocean and American legends Neurosis, No Hawaii offer a more melodic tilt on those bands full-on metal approach, which is not to say that ‘Snake my charms’ (the band’s debut release) is lightweight. Indeed, first track ‘A lovely breed’ is a chaotic thrill ride through the band’s numerous influences, including a terrifying side-step from the melody-tinged progressive opening into pure hardcore territory. Much like Neurosis and The Ocean, No Hawaii capture the imagination and render themselves such an exciting prospect by being genuinely daring with their sound and playing the music that they want to hear, rather than pandering to overt commercialism. And this is just the first song!
Having grabbed the listener by the proverbial in the first song, No Hawaii have a difficult act to follow on track two, but happily they haven’t loaded the album with the best track foremost and ‘chuck noir’ is propelled on the sort of atonal, polyrhythmic riff that Mike Patton used to indulge in when on a trip with Mr Bungle, but coupled with the post-hardcore dynamics of Botch. It’s complicated music that is as apt to have you scratching your head for the first minute or two, as grinning insanely with delight but it is exactly this that will keep you coming back to the album time and time again rather than consign it to a lower shelf in your CD collection with the intention of keeping it there to gather dust. Having segued half-way through into a psychedelic jam session, the band charge back in to the fray with the lengthy ‘Tunnel’ which opens on some truly brutal chords before developing into a twisted tune that is captivatingly subtle before lurching into a full-blown attack on the senses. Indeed, such is the boundless invention and myriad changes the band incorporate into each and every track that it is more than my grasp of complex adjectives and a thesaurus can handle, limiting me to gibber “it’s awesome” at various key intervals, and it is. This is a simply gobsmacking debut that is set to stand toe-to-toe with any of the more revered names in the art-rock world, from Isis to Neurosis, it’s that good.
At a relatively svelte 3.12 ‘(bank)’ is one of the shortest tracks on here, which is not to say that it is any way straightforward. Confusing sounds echo through a discordant intro, to build to a distorted trip-hop-esque nightmare. It recalls elements of Axis of Perdition and Deftones and it is something of a relief after the mind bending tracks that come before. ‘Isaul’ returns to the band’s stock in trade in blistering style, however, with an opening that is every bit the cross between hardcore and an epileptic fit. Drawing on Meshuggah’s twisted masterpiece I as inspiration, it draws the line between hypnotic repetition and occasional forays into melody with a deft touch that belies the fact that this is the band’s first album. ‘Radio Magellanes’ is next, a ten minute trip in to the band’s twisted heart that starts out none-more-brutal but develops into a hypnotic jam that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Tool record. ‘Technical difficulties’ is mental. ‘Unleash the kuru’ proves, however, that the band haven’t lost the plot by introducing a dirty bass groove that Kyuss would have loved, over crazy, jazz-tinged drums and unusual guitars. Final track ‘E=Mc2 (Kaospilot)’ opens with the sound of a Commodore 64 imploding and gets progressively odder from there.
How do you quantify the success of a band such as this? Quite simply this is a stunning debut,and yet it is more than that; this is the work of an astoundingly assured band who sound as if they have been doing this forever, such is the precision they bring to their complex and exciting music. No Hawaii are set to take the world by storm if this is the level of artistic achievement they are capable of bringing to bear. This is one of the best records I have heard in a long, long time and it will take some beating. If you are a fan of Neurosis, Isis, hell, rock music in general, you need this release. Absolutely astounding.
Snake My Charms is out June 9th via Parallel music/sound pollutions. In the meantime you can check out the band’s myspace page at www.myspace.com/nohawaii
