THE HEMPSTEADYS - Seance! Seance! ALBUM REVIEW
N.M.E. The Illest: Vocals/Hype man! Andy: Guitar/Vocals Jordan: Guitar/Vocals Logan: Tres Guitar/Vocals Shaun: Bass/Vocals Matt: Drums Briggs: Percussion Jim: Trombone Scott: Trumpet Cody: Saxophone Ricky: Keys Hempsteady All-Stars: Adam: Saxophone Isaac: Hype man! Frank Lo: M.C.
With a grocery list worth of members comes THE HEMPSTEADYS, the high energy, punk rock, reggae band and Connecticut natives.
THE HEMPSTEADYS recently released their sophomore forthcoming album Seance! Seance! a blend of rasta-punk, ska and good ole' fashion rock n' roll. Each of the 11 tunes follows a theme all the way to the end and is jam packed full of horns, ska/reggae beats and "chill out" moments in the tune. With a guest appearance by Vinnie Nobile (The Pilfers, The Suicide Machines) and mastered by Kyle Black (Paramore, Comeback Kid), Séance! Séance! takes aim to kick the door down with unforgettable hooks, a variety of rhythms, booming bass, and boisterous gang vocals.
Their debut single and track 1 of SEANCE! SEANCE! is STILL LIFE WITH WOODPECKER which gives the most perfect round about feel about what the band is about with raspy vocals, horn parts and upbeat punk rock drums. As I said the album follows a sort of theme, so the next three tracks RUDY COMES FROM THE STREET, THE MOON LAUGHS KNOWINGLY and TEMPLE OF BOOM is very similar in style track by track. They're a slight bit more mellow with an almost 70's era vibe tied to some parts featuring a wah on guitar, a slick, smooth bass line in each tune and reoccurring horn lines that gets stuck in your head.
GHOST OF JOE STRUMMER is a pretty straight forward somber homage to one punk rock's greasted guitarists and songwriters. If there's one track you listen to by THE HEMPSTEADYS it's this one.
The next two tracks BOX FAN and WHEN DEAD ARE UNDEAD "picks it up, picks it up" and reminds me of an old school NOFX tune or something Rancid would've put out forever ago in some of that ska meets punk style of writing. The next couple tracks,DANGEROUS and COMPASS get exponentially faster with a straight punk rock/ska sound reminiscent of The Suicide Machines.
My favorite track from the album is most definitely THE WELL. There's something about that horn line and gang vocals that reminds me of like an old school DKM or Rancid tune that I can't quite put my finger on. It's like an itch that I can't scratch.
The last track on the album CLASSIC CARS brings it home with this cross between a big band/ ska and straight rock n' roll sound. It's got all of the suspects of a ska tune but is kind of a sing-a-long and slower tune featuring this sick B-3 organ sound in the background and these nice little bluesy guitar licks through out.
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