Heart Attack Man is a band that has me in a constant state of confusion… Why don’t more people know about them and love them? I’ve seen them play a half full (or empty depending on your life philosophy) Cathouse as a headliner and I’ve seen them play The Garage supporting the tremendous Spanish Love Songs and both times they’ve come out blasting. Pop punk that’s perpetually pissed off at life to a degree where you don’t want to be left alone in a room with the mind that’s come up with these lyrics.
The prospect of new album ‘Joyride The Pale Horse’ – probably a reference to Death’s choice of steed rather than cocaine – has had a bit of a buzz around it since it’s announcement and now we have a copy of it. Here’s the skinny on what you have to look forward to…
We open with ‘One More Song (Imposter Syndrome)’ that counts us down into Heart Attack Man’s patented slow verse rhythm before exploding into one of the loudest choruses that I’ve heard in some time. The repeating narrative of frontman Eric Egan being at the end of his rope in terms of his creativity and performing; and the panic that comes with thinking you’ll be judged as an imposter for not having an infinite amount of anything in the tank. It’s a great glimpse into the fragility of the artist that’s expressed with a fight/flight mode that’s made up of 99% fight.
That slides straight into ‘End Of The Gun’ which proves the instrumentals of HAM are getting darker and more aggressive. Remember when Tom Delonge released Box Car Racer into the wild? It sounded like the guitars should have been in a padded cell as they snarled and growled rather than just lay back and provided poppy backing tracks for the adolescent love songs that we were used to. That’s what the instrumentals of this song are like, but on steroids. A snarling beast of a riff with the same frustration that’s been dragged through from the opening number. There is a key change at the end which kicks us up a gear momentarily but, we get back to the anger sooner than we can crack a smile.
‘Joyride The Pale Horse’ is released on April 25
Catching Light Photography
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