Helmets Oļ¬
āHelmets Oļ¬ā, the ļ¬rst album of The Hobknobs, will see the light of day on July 24th. The Hobknobs will release this full-length record themselves, with a special North-American release by 12XU.
āHelmets Oļ¬ā can be described as an honest attempt at honesty. Although all options are open at the moment of conception, the end result often remains bare. Instruments come in when they are needed, but the songs apparently donāt need that much at all. Every word and every strum sounds like itās placed in exactly the right moment. Perhaps it is this bareness of the songs, that makes it feel as if The Hobknobs are speaking to the listener directly. It is clear that they donāt want anything to cloud this human interaction. An interaction that appears to come with a certain playfulness.
YaĆ«l Dekker, whom you may also know as the singer of The Klittens, and Arie van Vliet, who used to spread his word through the band Lewsberg, were once described as loving misanthropes. Listening to āHelmets Oļ¬ā, this description seems rather accurate. A consoling song like āThe Mindā sounds haunting. Even words seem to have lost their meaning in āDictionaryā. Songs that seem cheerful and naive at ļ¬rst appear to be pleadings on second listen. And is āEnarmouredā a pro-war protest song? What war do they want to ļ¬ght?
Dekker and Van Vlietās voices seem to know each other well, in a way that magniļ¬es the songs on
āHelmets Oļ¬ā beyond their deceptive simplicity. Together with the minimal production by Jaap van der Velde, it makes that the album hits the sweet spot somewhere in the middle of āinstantly familiarā and āno one else sounds quite like thisā.
āThe Hobknobs make fragile, minimal songs with a surreal, philosophical bent. āDictionaryā sounds like the pencil sketch of a Velvet Underground song, the guitars trebly and luminous, a slackly shaken tambourine the only percussionā- Aquarium Drunkard
Tracklist
1. The Mind
2. My Conditions
3. Around The Bend
4. Jennette McCurdy
5. Are You Looking For Something?
6. Dictionary
7. The Bowl
8. Fuel
9. The Tide
10. Used To It
11. The Extra Mile
12. Easier Listening
13. Enarmoured
14. Green Pasture
āHelmets Oļ¬ā, the ļ¬rst album of The Hobknobs, will see the light of day on July 24th. The Hobknobs will release this full-length record themselves, with a special North-American release by 12XU.
āHelmets Oļ¬ā can be described as an honest attempt at honesty. Although all options are open at the moment of conception, the end result often remains bare. Instruments come in when they are needed, but the songs apparently donāt need that much at all. Every word and every strum sounds like itās placed in exactly the right moment. Perhaps it is this bareness of the songs, that makes it feel as if The Hobknobs are speaking to the listener directly. It is clear that they donāt want anything to cloud this human interaction. An interaction that appears to come with a certain playfulness.
YaĆ«l Dekker, whom you may also know as the singer of The Klittens, and Arie van Vliet, who used to spread his word through the band Lewsberg, were once described as loving misanthropes. Listening to āHelmets Oļ¬ā, this description seems rather accurate. A consoling song like āThe Mindā sounds haunting. Even words seem to have lost their meaning in āDictionaryā. Songs that seem cheerful and naive at ļ¬rst appear to be pleadings on second listen. And is āEnarmouredā a pro-war protest song? What war do they want to ļ¬ght?
Dekker and Van Vlietās voices seem to know each other well, in a way that magniļ¬es the songs on
āHelmets Oļ¬ā beyond their deceptive simplicity. Together with the minimal production by Jaap van der Velde, it makes that the album hits the sweet spot somewhere in the middle of āinstantly familiarā and āno one else sounds quite like thisā.
āThe Hobknobs make fragile, minimal songs with a surreal, philosophical bent. āDictionaryā sounds like the pencil sketch of a Velvet Underground song, the guitars trebly and luminous, a slackly shaken tambourine the only percussionā- Aquarium Drunkard
Tracklist
1. The Mind
2. My Conditions
3. Around The Bend
4. Jennette McCurdy
5. Are You Looking For Something?
6. Dictionary
7. The Bowl
8. Fuel
9. The Tide
10. Used To It
11. The Extra Mile
12. Easier Listening
13. Enarmoured
14. Green Pasture
Description
āHelmets Oļ¬ā, the ļ¬rst album of The Hobknobs, will see the light of day on July 24th. The Hobknobs will release this full-length record themselves, with a special North-American release by 12XU.
āHelmets Oļ¬ā can be described as an honest attempt at honesty. Although all options are open at the moment of conception, the end result often remains bare. Instruments come in when they are needed, but the songs apparently donāt need that much at all. Every word and every strum sounds like itās placed in exactly the right moment. Perhaps it is this bareness of the songs, that makes it feel as if The Hobknobs are speaking to the listener directly. It is clear that they donāt want anything to cloud this human interaction. An interaction that appears to come with a certain playfulness.
YaĆ«l Dekker, whom you may also know as the singer of The Klittens, and Arie van Vliet, who used to spread his word through the band Lewsberg, were once described as loving misanthropes. Listening to āHelmets Oļ¬ā, this description seems rather accurate. A consoling song like āThe Mindā sounds haunting. Even words seem to have lost their meaning in āDictionaryā. Songs that seem cheerful and naive at ļ¬rst appear to be pleadings on second listen. And is āEnarmouredā a pro-war protest song? What war do they want to ļ¬ght?
Dekker and Van Vlietās voices seem to know each other well, in a way that magniļ¬es the songs on
āHelmets Oļ¬ā beyond their deceptive simplicity. Together with the minimal production by Jaap van der Velde, it makes that the album hits the sweet spot somewhere in the middle of āinstantly familiarā and āno one else sounds quite like thisā.
āThe Hobknobs make fragile, minimal songs with a surreal, philosophical bent. āDictionaryā sounds like the pencil sketch of a Velvet Underground song, the guitars trebly and luminous, a slackly shaken tambourine the only percussionā- Aquarium Drunkard
Tracklist
1. The Mind
2. My Conditions
3. Around The Bend
4. Jennette McCurdy
5. Are You Looking For Something?
6. Dictionary
7. The Bowl
8. Fuel
9. The Tide
10. Used To It
11. The Extra Mile
12. Easier Listening
13. Enarmoured
14. Green Pasture
