Hawk Eyes - That’s What This Is

The UK doesn’t have enough genuinely weird rock bands right now but it is a truism that every healthy scene needs the odd act who operate on the edges, plying their trade in the peripheries where other musicians fear to tread. Hawk Eyes are one such band, ploughing their furrow in tireless, trendless fashion and seemingly ever more determined to ignore that which might find them the mainstream adoration they could surely achieve if they ever decided they wanted it. New four-tracker ‘That’s What This Is’ is full of the awkwardly articulated but devilishly moreish choruses we have come to expect from the Leeds quartet since last years ‘Ideas’ full length, while the band’s penchant for an unheralded change of rhythm or pace remains as strong and clear as ever.

Of the material on show here, closer ‘More Than a Million’ is probably the pick of the bunch, all choppy riff work and sultry vocals, topped off ambitiously with a truly anthemic chorus. Elsewhere, the wonderfully named ‘Never Never, Just Not Now’ is possessed of a Foo Fighters-esque melody that is twisted, courtesy of some off-kilter riffing, into something that is capable of catching you quite off guard. ‘Cheap’, meanwhile, will keep those looking for heavier fare happy, a four-minute bass driven stomp-along which feels powerful and efficacious enough, if a little disjointed in places.

All in all though, it’s another strong showing from a band who, if nothing else, are a decidedly distinctive proposition in an increasingly homogenised scene. Certainly enough to tide us over between albums there’s plenty to recommend ‘That’s What This Is’ as a delicious morsel of eccentric rock ‘n roll in its own right. Another one in the (hawk) eye for boring bands everywhere.