Guilty Pleasures (Are The Best Ones)
Self-Released, 2021
9/10
Listen to Guilty Pleasures (Are The Best Ones)
The North Carolina resident Hank Close has a lengthy and esteemed career playing music, and here as Hank! he debuts with a handful of diverse and exciting tunes that run the gamut of firm rock’n’roll sounds.
“The Twitch” opens the listen with a dense display of precisely layered indie-rock that’s loud, melodic and sonically challenging, and “1000 Fools” follows with a brisk pace of frisky and highly energetic, retro flavored rock’n’roll.
Deeper into the listen, “Alchemy” moves with a powerful and thick display that’s organ heavy before abruptly shifting into a thumping alt-rocker, while “Don’t Go Out” embraces folk ideas in its dreamy beginning that builds into intricate textures. “Why Go?”, one of the album’s best, then swirls with a post-punk sort of feeling that bounces and shakes with plenty of ‘80s sensibilities in a Morrissey sort of way.
“Friend Is Gone” arrives near the end and tosses in some oldies spirit to the slow burning affair, and “Mood Swings” exits the listen with meticulous guitar work and some prog/psyche ideas in a very creative and memorable finish.
A listen that’s sometimes soaked in fuzz, other times jagged and punk rooted, and yet also can get quite dark and tense, Close brings the experience of his previous bands, Absent Boundaries and Hank & Brendan, to this unique first record as Hank!, and let’s hope there’s more on the horizon, cause modern indie-rock could learn a lot from Hank Close’s mind.
Travels well with: State Drugs- Live. Laugh. Love; Spells- Stimulants & Sedatives