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Acclaimed Dayton, Ohio band Hawthorne Heights has been all over the media for
the last couple of years, and for good reason. This band flat-out rocks. Their
second effort on Chicago-based indie label Victory Records, If Only You Were
Lonely, puts the pedal to the metal and doesn’t stop until the final track. A
three-guitar assault, along with the vocals of JT Woodruff, who sometimes sings
with precision pop/punk tenor and sometimes morphs into a screaming, barking
metal boy, makes this band both unique and really cool. The one thing that
really can’t be ignored though, regardless of style, is that the songs are top
notch.
While Hawthorne Heights cites influences such as Nirvana and Led Zeppelin, their
overall sound is more akin to bands like Jimmy Eat World and SR-71. “This Is Who
We Are” leads off this set and sets the tone for the rest of the album. “We Are
So Last Year” and “Pens And Needles” exemplify what can be done with multiple
guitar players, as harmony guitar riffs are balanced with gang vocals to produce
choruses that are as big as the state these guys are from. “Dead in the Water”
and “I Am on Your Side” have a slow burn, active rock thing going on, but
without being as annoying as most of that format’s offerings. Finally, the album
closes with “Decembers,” an airy piano ballad that resembles fellow hipsters
Death Cab for Cutie or the Album Leaf.
After winning Yahoo! Music’s “Who’s Next” contest, Hawthorne Heights was soon
being linked to powerhouse artists like Green Day. An upcoming summer tour with
Fall Out Boy and All-American Rejects is sure to help them to continue building
on that success. But more than anything, Hawthorne Heights is a talented group
of musicians with great songs that appeal to the music-buying public, and an
indie charm that appeals to the critics – a double threat to be sure.
~Mike Farley
mfarley@bullz-eye.com
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