Thanks to previous releases there is no denying the grin which natural materialises when approached by a new encounter with Scottish outfit The Hector Collectors. As proven by their acclaimed previous album of 2018, it is a smile which more than lingers across their releases and was possibly at its widest yet whilst we romped with Do the ‘Ad Hominem’ with the Hector Collectors!, the quartet’s new EP.
Since dropping their first slice of mischief, debut album Straight Outta Comprehensive (Fully Comprehensive Edition) back in 2001, The Hector Collectors has stood as one of music’s more boldly unique propositions. Certainly it has been easy to offer up bands such as Television Personalities, The Freshies, and Half Man Half Biscuit as hints to their sound but across all their offerings and as their previous full-length, Remember the Hector Collectors? ..You Won’t Believe What They Sound Like Now!!!!!, established they weave a creative rascality that stands aside of the rest.
We do not know for sure but presumably still embracing the line-up of vocalist A.J. Smith, guitarist I.D. Smith, bassist Joseph Greatorex, and drummer Gavin Dunbar, The Hector Collectors open up their latest devilment with The Ad Hominem 2020. It is a track which featured on that last album but has been given a work over for this year and quickly gets down to business with its unapologetically catchy pop ‘n’ roll. It is one of those sing-a-longs which is just as persuasive in sound as it is in vocals, every essence encouragement to lose inhibitions and dance with body and voice.
It is a great start to the EP, one impossible to resist leaping on board with though, for us, is soon and persistently slightly outshone by those to follow starting with Podcast. The second track like all have a definite eighties spicing which reminds of one of Scotland’s musical heydays. There is a whiff of early Orange Juice meets Josef K to the indie pop shenanigans and another chorus which just seduces eager participation.
The App Did Everything For Me is next up and similarly instantly unleashes a virulently catchy swing through bass and guitar which provides puppet strings to movement. A.J.’s vocals are just as manipulative, the cheek of his lyrics as beaming as the song’s melodic whimsy with its Pastels-esque tint while next up Publicly Shamed manages to be even more contagious in its own swing and vocal incitement. With rhythms boisterously rolling and a Johnny Cash country folk simmered lilt to its boisterous stroll, the song quickly burrowed under the skin to be another commanding limb and vocal chords.
Remember When Twitter Was Really Spiffing? brings things to a close, the track proving our favourite of the five with its seaside carousel sashay. Casting social media observation into its eager bound as rhythms energetically prowl and vintage keys ‘chatter’, the track is superb and an irresistible, fun bursting end to another just as tantalising and thoroughly enjoyable outing with The Hector Collectors.
We all need to spring a smile or two upon our lives and The Hector Collectors provide plenty of reasons to as well as songs which relish a creative will and instinct which as we said is rather unique and proving persistently welcome.
Do the ‘Ad Hominem’ with the Hector Collectors! is out now as a name your price download; available @ https://thehectorcollectors.bandcamp.com/album/do-the-ad-hominem-with-the-hector-collectors
https://www.facebook.com/thehectorcollectors/ https://twitter.com/hcollectorsband
Pete RingMaster 18/02/2020
Copyright RingMasterReview: MyFreeCopyright
It is Tight Jeans which opens up the EP, its instantly infectious presence shaped by the dark breath of bass and the flirtatious shuffle of keys and guitar. In its midst as Saint’s beats egg on the song’s controlled but eager boisterousness, Keenan’s vocals swing adding further catchiness to the track’s stroll. Across its thick contagion, a host of flavours unite; classic rock wires escaping the guitar as electro pop instincts line its earthy rock ‘n’ roll.
The album opens up with Open Your Arms, a track which swiftly hooks ears with its sweeping breath and magnetic jangle. Metcalfe’s vocals resonate with the expression and character which we are more familiar with within his current creative adventure as melodies, harmonies, and sharp hooks are woven into a slice of indie contagion. There is a Big Country like grandeur to the song at times and a gnarly edge to the bass which just hit a personal appetite, again something since keenly devoured with Wilson’s presence in The Filthy Tongues.
The Killers has been suggested as a reference to the band’s music but straight away as What For? strolls through ears and especially as it settles into its eager almost teasing temptation an Inspiral Carpets like hue rises to the fore. Even so it is simply a single flavouring in the band’s indie rock audacity as the guitar and vocals of John Hewitson swing across the rhythmic enticement of bassist Craig Morrison and drummer Robert Lang. There is a great grumble to that bass which earths the loftier melodic threads which spring from the guitar while Lang’s beats just enjoyably nag throughout.
The sing-a-long canter of Ma Claque just commands participation next up while Je Suis Le Boss owns ears with its sepia shaded sixties shuffle blessed with the intoxicating jangle of keys and the harmonic flaming of Monbel; another great pair which is still outshone by another as Drogue ‘N’ Roll swaggers in with unapologetically flirtatious grooves leading devilish power pop tainted moves and garage pop sprung temptation.
It is a success soon shared across Fleam starting with the pair of Lovebombing and Dig. The first comes equipped with danger and threat as well as another dose of pure musical contagion that infests ears and instincts. Nurtured in punk ‘n’ roll ferocity and armed with a lyrical prowess which grips as effortlessly as the feral sounds surrounding it, the track simply enslaved before the second of the two sauntered in and exploded in a flame of melodic discord and eccentric invention. With a breath akin to The Nightingales in league with Television Personalities to it, the track burrowed under the skin laying bait and temptation which for just over two minutes feasted on any possible resistance to its esurient endeavour.
Across the pop ‘n’ roll of The Ad Hominem and the pop fray of Overton Window, band and album just accentuate their rich enticements, the first of the pair especially persuasive while Cognitive Dissonance eclipses both with its punk coated misbehaviour again hinting at the seventies and the antics of bands like O‘Level and Teenage Filmstars.
Having enjoyed success with their previous band through tours and festivals like Download and Sonisphere alone, in the words of Hendo, the band“…all really missed playing live and touring, so we finally got back in a room together and we couldn’t be happier about it. The whole purpose of this new band is to get together as friends, write songs that tell a story and play fun shows. We felt like that was similar to sitting round a camp fire and telling stories – hence the name.” There is an energy and freshness of spirit to the Aberdeen hailing band’s sound which backs that up, like a rediscovery of fun and energy which as much fuels the four tracks making up the vibrant release as the individual prowess and sharp songwriting.