Since I got it, this album is the only thing I've really wanted to hear. And is that any surprise? In 2009, when Hickey released their self titled debut album, I was completely in the dark. It would be a year until a friend would give me a mix tape featuring "Blonde Fire", among other things, and I would search the Earth until I found the debut record on amazon and bought it for the low low price of twenty USD with overseas shipping.
Now, two years later, I've become even more familiar with music. In fact, since then, it's become a real hobby for me, and I blame that a lot on Hickey really opening up the world of music to me with that debut album. It made me want to go out and find more music, which I have
The Hickey Underworld, of course, are a Belgium rock act, and they won the Hugo Rock Rally in 2006, a competition in Belgium that happens every two years, made solely to exploit their huge underground garage rock scene.
Their newest effort is titled "I'm Under the House, I'm Dying", and I've been freaking for it since they announced it was coming back in December. Finally, I would have another set of songs just as catchy, as gritty, as downright magnificent as the first ten were. I had a hell of a time getting the album when it did eventually release, and maybe sometime I could get into that, but I'm so sick of talking about my little adventure these past few days: all you need to know is that I've got the album, I'm waiting for my LP to ship, I'm saving money for a copy of the CD for my car rides, and I'm shipping this shit HARD.
The new songs -there's eleven of them - are poppier, and they always have a more uplifting end in comparison to the old stuff, which ended in a depressing spot as often as not. Each track is rewarding in it's own way, from the opening "UNTITLED", which introduced us to the new guitar style that'll be demonstrated over the rest of the album - and along with tracks like "Thierry", "Space Barrio" and "Overfiend", "UNTITLED" is a sort of track that helps the fluency of the album. All of these tracks are shorter, quicker, fun, and they really keep the energy going for the bigger efforts, which might take more of your patience, such as "Cold Embrace" - a catchy riff and fast as fuck paced chaotic track surrounded by wind chimes - and "Martians Cave" - a haunting melodic track that actually manages to be the only real disappointment in that it doesn't ever rise to a huge climax like it has the potential to, but instead just fades out.
The real heavy hitters here are all fantastic. "Year of the Rat" is the track you put on when you're about to walk away from an explosion on the set of a Guy Ritchie film being shot. It just makes you feel like the coolest mother fucker. "Pure Hearts in Mud" has three different moods depending on your setting, and so you can listen to it three times as often. And, finally, the title track, "I'm Under the House, I'm Dying" pulls back zero punches - it blasts psychedelic riffs better than any of the other tracks, turns into a second song half way through, and manages itself well enough to be the grand finale Hickey's second effort deserves.
I want you to listen to this record, and when you're done and you love it, I want you to spend a lot of money paying for it. I really want you to support this artist the way I do. Maybe this review will help you understand how much love really is involved here. Get this shit and listen to it and fall for it. This is my current album of the year. There's not much chance of anything beating it.
Tier: 1 [Album of the Year Material]
[plays pretty for baby]
