New Music: Cut Off Your Hands

It's hard for me to think of an album that continues to make me smile as much as Cut Off Your Hands 2008 debut You And I.  It is a magical piece of Wall of Sound goodness that is fun and poppy, and still one of my favorite records.  After three long years, I was so excited to hear that the band was finally releasing a new record.  From what I knew, the band had a bit of a rough go of it lately.  They had several line-up changes, had to scrap a version of the record and their drummer lost his hearing.  Uh, that’s pretty shit if you ask me.  So, I can imagine that it probably wasn’t easy to create something as happy peppy as You And I after all that.  Thankfully the band persevered and created a really good sophomore record.  Hollow shows the band progressing into something deeper than its poppier counterpart.  If You And I was an homage to the pop songs of the 60’s, then Hollow is an homage to the dustier rock songs of the 60’s.  Don’t worry, the record’s not all freedom rock, man; it’s more Echo & the Bunnymen meets Ocean Blue meets The Byrds…and it’s awesome.

At its core, Hollow is melancholic and full of raw emotion.  The juxtaposition of pop left over from the first record and the darkness of the new record creates wonderful musical tension.  You can still feel the pop undertone on songs like “Hollowed Out” and “All It Takes,” while the aptly titled “Fooling No One” is a full-on pop assault, proving that it’s not all dark days for these boys.  The best example of this is “Down and Out” which is my favorite song on the record right now.  I definitely like the darker, and somewhat softer, side of Cut Off Your Hands.  “Nausea” is full of sexy pleasantries with singer Nick Johnston giving his best Ian McCulloch.  And then there’s the very sweet love letter in “By Your Side” and the very lush “Oh Hell” which both channel The Byrds. 

Cut Off Your Hands know how to write great songs and are one of my favorite bands that haven’t seen (but deserve) huge success.  As they continue to evolve and mature into something even more great, I can only imagine that this will soon change!