Bottom of the Hudson

Fantastic Hawk

(Absolutely Kosher)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

Totally unrelated, but I just have to say that the first thing I noticed about this album is the way you can get “Hudson Hawk” from the title. So, yeah – the music, the band, the way it spins in my head… it spins mellow and melodic. While the vocals do hit at times like some smoothed out Guided By Voices meets Band Of Horses sing song drawl, the music that pushes along behind it is more straightforward and rocking. Rocking on the rolling side, as opposed to bang your head and get it on side. It rolls and sways along, melting sounds that belong either in fuzzy minded Britpop bands of lo-fi American indie bands into one cohesive mood of guitar sway strum and swing. Like Pavement meets Spacemen 3 with a harmonica in hand.

Sometimes the dynamics and the way the beat hits beneath the vocals reminds my of Say Hi To Your Mom, though with less space in between the sounds. The music manages to remain full and thick, without becoming overbearing. It’s sweet in it’s shadows and gentle in it’s depth. The sounds tend to move more towards that Britpop sound, but pulling along with it a Flaming Lips sensibility, though not quite as… strange? There are definite dynamics and nice turns of guitar phrase, but generally the songs remain consistent throughout the album – rarely moving longer than four minutes, and rarely deviating from a comfortable speed. Definitely more interesting than your average “just sit back and relax” record, but it still works as something you can play for those days when you just feel like hanging out mellow with your friends and finishing off a nice bottle of wine or two.

Editor's Note: As we were "going to press" with this review [written weeks ago], the sad news broke that BotH bassist Trevor Butler had been killed in a tour van accident. For further information, including a link for memorial donations, please visit the Absolutely Kosher website here.