Hockey

By Aaron Williams

Mind Chaos

Capitol

Pop

C+

The debut release from Portland Oregon’s Hockey can be added to a fairly long list of mostly forgettable electro-pop bands from the past decade. No doubt there are some good hooks on the album Mind Chaos, but at over 45 minutes, I was often bored and sometimes annoyed at what I was hearing.

Front man Benjamin Grubin spends a lot of time talking about the tediousness of his chosen genre. He speaks about how it could be hard for the audience to understand that he is really somebody that should be taken seriously.

If you want me to take you seriously, Mr. Grubin, don’t come right out and insist that I do – we had a clean slate when I got your record.

Another telling lyric comes on the song, “Wanna Be Black” when he sings, “What kind of accomplishment is a throw back/I was the first one to prefer that/everyone’s making dance music true/ but we started in 2002.”

Is this supposed to start some sort of war of words with MGMT?

In fact, I think they could probably take a cue from MGMT and add more silly lyrics; it fits the ever-present silly synth sound. I don’t want to make it sound like this album is a total write off though.

There are some exceptional tracks; “Learn To Lose” and “Four Holy Photos” are prime examples of some of the better things that the new wave revival has to offer.

The latter track actually has a bit of a Bob Dylan feel to it. Mind Chaos doesn’t really hit its stride until the last four tracks, but hopefully it carries into their next album.

Check out this album if you need some dorm room background music, but for a similar sound that can resonate a bit deeper check out last year’s Phoenix record instead.

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