Altsounds - The Hands

With the ferocity and technicality of all the metal and hardcore releases that I'm sent to review, it is a rare treat to receive a record as catchy and unpretentious as The Hands debut album. This Seattle combo specializes in the kind of straight-forward and energetic garage rock that never goes out of fashion. Well, at least not in the hearts and minds of the legions of rock critics who long for the heydey of this stuff. The guitars never overpower but they lay down a solid enough foundation for the vocals to strut their Jagger-like boogie. Actually, most of the feel on this album evokes that feeling those late-60's Nuggets era bands gave me when I first heard them some years ago.

A song like "Lies Lies Lies" wouldn't sound out of place on a Seeds or even a Kinks record. The dissonant riffs in "Dry County" stayed ringing in my head long after the CD was out of the stereo. This is what The Hands do well. They know how to write earworms and they don't fuss up the arrangements leaving you with the kinds of hooks that are heard to deny. Now, I'm not saying every single song on this collection is worthy of 45 single status but its definitely up in the league of similar bands that mine from the same influences. The Strokes, The Vines and Razorlight, I'm talking to you!

by Carlos Ramirez