Written by Maria Arroyo
Rising Australian band, Hands Like Houses, has officially blown me away with their self-titled album out now via UNFD. Bringing this killer band to life are Trenton Woodley (lead vocals), Matt Cooper (lead guitar), Alex Pearson (rhythm guitar/vocals), Joel Tyrrell (bass/vocals), and Matt Parkitny (drums).
With a lot of influence derived from the concepts of “collisions, partnered with resolve, [and] heavily informs,” Hands Like Houses’ musical sound can be boiled down into just a few quotes. the following phrase: “a gritty, bold, and rock-fueled effort that is undoubtedly their most refined to date,” and a “A true vessel for who they are as individuals and a group at this stage of their lives.”
The opening track, “The Water,” is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to their insanely great sound. The vocals and performance is airtight, while filling their sound with emotion and vulnerability. This track is reminiscent of some grunge-rock music I listened to as a teen, but with some more inspiration from modern music. On top of this, it’s incredibly catchy and energetic.
“Space” highlights the bands talents even more with their attention to detail from the heartfelt lyrics to the build-up of anticipation in the instrumentation. This song in particular, catches the band at their most “tired yet determined.” The album was created in extremely close quarters, which is a big part of why the album is structured (both musically and recording-wise) the way it is.
The next track, “Dangerous,” creates a lot of contrast within the lyrics, which makes lyric junkies like me have the hair on the back of their neck start to stand up! There’s tons of buildup (which is something I love) along with their harmonies and intensity that brings this song to a whole new level.
“It’s about feeling pretty dangerous and really being afraid of exploding… almost like tension bottling up and thinking ‘get out of my way’,” frontman Woodley shares.
Their next track, “Wired,” brings the energy of their sound up even more, and they continue to blow my mind with their songwriting. Woodley also shares that “Wired” is the track that encases the “tension and release of [his] journey in full” the most. This track traces back to the “acknowledgement of the recordings at times stifling tension, [yet] freeing resolve” for Woodley.
“I think from day one I was trying to explore this with big, grandiose metaphors and slowly we’ve been bringing it back in and bringing it back in, like a coming home of sorts,” he explains. “It all comes back to allowing yourself to embrace vulnerability, embrace those collisions more… accepting that you can’t just go through the world invisibly.”
Closing out this, for lack of a better work, fucking incredible album is “Stranger” and again… I am NOT disappointed: they deliver another incredible song!
Hands Like Houses: you have completely ROCKED my world! You have just bumped up to my top 10 favorite artists, and definitely stole the spot for favorite Australian band at the VERY least! You guys are representing home in the best way possible, and you all have made me a fan for life!
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