Warrington based melodic punk trio Hummer market themselves as ‘two engineers and an academic’. I’m not sure whether the academic is having a go at the engineers for their on-the-job approach or the engineers are standing in the corner giggling about the practical inexperience of the eternal student Joe Watson, who has only recently achieved his PhD. Anyway…
Hummer evolved from high school band ‘SFR’ which was formed in 2004 by Will Atkinson (bass/vocals) and Joe (guitar/vocals). When ‘Cainy’ (originally the second guitarist) joined in 2008 the band couldn’t hold on to a drummer and so eventually he moved to drums and in 2011 they changed their name. Hummer proceeded to do, well pretty much nothing for the next four years. They admit this openly, describing their behaviour at the time as ‘general bone-idleness’. However, they eventually released their first E.P. ‘Work. Home. Bed’ in 2017. Second E.P. ‘Budweiser and Butter’ was released in 2018 and the band received some positive feedback for their US influenced 90’s punk sound.
‘How Did I Get Here?’ opens with upbeat but uninspiring ‘A Quiet One’ about having a quiet night which turns into sleeping through the next day. The lyrics question whether this is wasting or enjoying life, on the journey to death. ‘CUI’ follows, about getting pissed in small-town England and riding your bike (Cycling Under the Influence…aah). I’m seeing a theme here, one that continues with single ‘Whiskey Eyes’. It’s a frenetic sound, the bass riff setting an improbable pace for a drinking song and Cainy does a good job, for a guitarist turned drummer, at keeping up with it. Vocals here are growled out with a bit more attitude and although still rhythmic its less pop than the first two tracks. There’s even a bit of folky lead guitar in here and an impressive, bass led breakdown before the final scream out.
When ‘3 Days’ comes along there’s a bit of a change of tack. The intro is more melodic, reminding me of Shed Seven but when the drums kick in the rhythm is confusing, so much so that it leaves the lead-in sounding disjointed. Nevertheless, there’s still brilliance in this track, somewhere in the middle, you adjust with each listen.
As we continue through, ‘Never Mind It’ll Soon Be Monday’ is sure to be a sing-along anthem and ‘WA5ive’ is full of nostalgic 90s punk sounds in the vein of Blink 182 and Greenday, but ‘Online Civil War’ made me smile with the classic line “Why make a point that’s real, when you can reach out from your laptop on your virtual battlefield?”. The band proceed to rip keyboard gangsters a new one in a song that really gets into your head. Should have been a single. The album ends on a high with a track called non-other than ‘Nostalgia’.
It’s one of those… I honestly didn’t think much of this album at first. The first few tracks had me thinking of a few pissheads (on bikes) trying at punk, and not really getting it. You know, middle-aged wasters. Ironic given their respective engineering experience and doctorate. Then again, a doctorate is more than a bit studenty isn’t it Joe? There’s nothing ground-breaking here but by the end I can see the appeal of the band. Their energy live will be great to see, and the album gets more believable as it progresses. Many of these songs will stick with you. It’s actually pretty good. How did I get here? Indeed.
- ‘How Did I Get Here?’ is released today (Friday 18 December). You can get your copy HERE.
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