Rating: NNN
Hospital Bombers may hail from Amsterdam, but they sound like a bunch of Canucks. Like the Weakerthans, the four-piece approach pop/punk in a folky way, at times making use of slower tempos, wordy lyrics and non-traditional rock instrumentation, notably violin lines in the vein of Owen Pallett. The peppier tunes share the upbeat drive of Vancouver’s Salteens.
All combined, a sense of manic fun is achieved on their scrappy debut, Footnotes, especially on tracks Theme, Neighbourhood and Kittens.
Downsides include a lack of dynamics and monotony in the vocal melodies (let the girl sing more!). There’s room for lyrical maturation, too punk not being dead and the evils of listening to “devil’s music” are oddly old-fashioned themes for such a young band.
Catch Hospital Bombers at Sneaky Dee’s on Wednesday (October 29).
