Bring the Hoax
Bring the Hoax
(Lövely Records)
3/5
Swedish alt-rock band Bring the Hoax’s debut EP leaves me with mixed feelings. Guitarist/vocalist Karl Nordahl describes their style as “business class indie rock” but I didn’t get that impression while listening. Instead, I’d say it’s more like garage-band indie rock.
In every song the bass playing is fantastic and there’s some powerful guitar riffs, but the vocals are quite plain, unfortunately. There isn’t much range and it sounds like the lead singer had no previous experience, and certainly no training. Other than this, the songs are performed decently and quite well written.
Some of the song titles are confusing: it’s clear that the title of the third track, “Jonestown,” is a reference to the 1978 massacre in Guyana by religious extremist Jim Jones, who was responsible for the death of 918 people. Yet after listening, it’s not clear as to why it was referenced at all.
I’m on the fence here: I mostly enjoyed this EP, but don’t see myself recommending it to other rock fans.