(from CWSY#6, August '01) / home / reviews index
Hutch -
'Blind Diving' (Live Circuit Records)
There's a lot of bands who're said to sound like Radiohead, but the comparison 's a curse even when complimentary; the preciousness of many 'head tans leads to the new band being derided as copyists when in fact they just started out making music that happened to be similar. Hear Muse, a group I have a constant on/off relationship with, who, as was unclear from their debut LP, are as much influenced by classical music as by the classic rock of 'Pablo Honey', itself quite derivative. How hear the debut from local band Hutch.
What's most like Radiohead is the computer-drawn sleeve. The combination of falsetto vocals and guitars(e.g. 'Pure''s haunting intro) also recalls good Suede with the powerful American-style rock drive of Muse - but Simon's vocals are less histrionic, more listenable than their Matt. Hutch have learnt the most important lesson for any musician really wanting to be heard: how to write tunes that get in the listener's head and stay there Even if only through a subtle nag at first, the beauty of 'Slow Me Down' or 'B' will get you in the end. Pining along with floaty keyboards in keeping with sympathetic lyrics (nothing ridiculous like "cut the kids in half"- and making the most of a good voice, too), it's more successful than approaching too tentatively a track called We'll Rule The World'. The quiet/loud dynamic is slightly overplayed (Sex Self Reward', the bluesy Pearl Jam 'Angel') and on first listening some songs appear formulaic, just standing out on repeated hearing. Their length doesn't help: 'Radio Friendly' is as overlong as all Oasis' recent songs; people like Tortoise and Awol get away with 20-minute tracks by constantly changing the tune or instrumentation, but this is (would be) rockstar indulgence. One lesson Hutch haven t learnt is to leave the audience wanting more: or maybe that's why their best song is left off, the deeply atmospheric set-closer at the album launch that floated up almost into Mogwai territory. Where I'm left asking "when's the follow-up?", the album can't be bad.
