How refreshing a thought it is to think of a Seattle band without even conjuring up the slightest thought of grunge.  Breathe in the air, it is 2008 and while a haze may surround the ivory tower of Count Amazon, the time seems to have finally arrived when music can go back to resembling some shade of normalcy.  Having said that, asking right at this moment, it would honestly be a stretch for me to name a half dozen bands from the great Emerald City; though now that Alice in Chains has somehow been resurrected I suppose that leaves just five.  Four, actually, counting The Hands.

A week or two back Seattle Weekly called the band’s music out on being “loud, back-to-basics rock,” but in all honesty I doubt that those words really mean much to anyone.  The Hands’ songs are loud, they do rock, but I perceive them as being a few steps beyond whatever it is that back-to-basics might mean to the author in question.  The introductory bass line to the group’s “Lies Lies Lies” sounds like “Money” if only it had just had its ass kicked in a fight and was drunkenly struggling to walk a straight line upon a cop’s request.  The song continues, like much of the band’s forthcoming eponymous release does, by pushing ahead belligerently without attempting to gradually allow a song build by creating some sort of ambiance or aura.  The band’s not fast enough to be punk, not bold enough to be hard rock…well, maybe it’s not quite time yet to give up on the power that once inspired the music of the cities late ’80s legends.

The Hands “Praying Hands Will Make Fists (Or Be Chopped Off)” (mp3)

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