If you’re anything like me, you probably started the day by recognizing that the start of a new work week had indeed arrived and then immediately began shaking your fists at the sky in anger. Monday is rarely anyone’s favorite day, and from what I have seen firsthand it feels safe to say it’s the one day of the week some people outright hate. I guess to them the arrival of the work week symbolizes the end of their quote/unquote freedom, and as a result they head into the office/factory/restaurant/store with a negative outlook already on their mind. This leads to bad attitudes, which only makes the experience of being at work worse, and for some reason it also seems to make time slow to a crawl. We’re not about that life, and we hope this post can do the same you that the song contained within it did for us.
I couldn’t tell you when I first felt like I was punk, or that I belonged to the quote/unquote “punk community,” but it was probably sometime in my early teen years. Blink-182 had converted me from a person who simply enjoyed music to someone who believed they needed music like they needed their next breath with the release of Enema Of The State, and from there my love for the alternative world grew like vines on the side of an old brick house. If there was a show nearby, I was there. If there was a new album on display at the record store that claimed to be pop punk, hard rock, or edgy in some way, I wanted to hear it. More often than not I probably bought that record as well. For me, it was impossible to have too much of a good thing, and in many ways that belief still stands true today.
It wasn’t until I reached college and the age of discovering music online arrived that I really began to consider the numerous styles of music that existed outside my audio comfort zone. Even though I was quick to find artists outside the world of rock I enjoyed, my admiration for their art was something I largely kept to myself. After all, every moment of my life in music before that time had been defined by my love for all thing alternative, and it was in that genre that I found a sense of community that I had not known in my hometown or through school. While other kids had friends in the so-called “real world,” my closest companions often lived on a CD, mp3, or (for a few years) audio cassette. Bands were my friends, and their songs were the stories we shared when no one else wanted anything to do with us. Punk, and I am admittedly using that term in the loosest sense of the word, had kept me company through thick and thin. I didn’t know if I could ever feel as close to anything as I felt to the alternative community, and as a result I feared venturing away from it for fear it may turn its back on me.
That may sound silly to you, but the above is entirely true, and I think it may be true for many others as well. When you find yourself associating who you are as a person with the thing, scene, or group that first made you feel free to express yourself it can be incredibly hard to consider even the smallest change because you worry that thing, whatever or whomever it may be, won’t love you anymore. What’s even worse is that you also begin to fear that no one or no thing will want you either, which is preposterous, but as a young person still finding confidence in yourself it seems as likely as anything. So you stay stagnant, preventing yourself from having a chance at being or trying something new, and in my experience that complacency will eventually lead you to feel less and less interested about the world of music, as well as art in general.
Hands Like Houses are an Australian rock band that formed in 2008 and quickly found international acclaim thanks to alternative sound that played well with what was popular in the genre at the moment. The group found a home in Rise Records, a label known for setting trends in the alternative world, and in 2012 the group released their debut LP, Ground Dweller, to critical and fan acclaim. The band then toured extensively, touching down on several continents, and then in 2013 another record (Unimagine) hit shelves. More positive reviews were received, more tours were planned, and the group once again found themselves in a global whirlwind of press and publicity that would find them being face-to-face with throngs of followers from every corner of the planet.
By the time Hands Like Houses found themselves celebrating the dawn 2014 they had already accomplished more than most bands ever hope to achieve. They had risen through the Australian music underground, caught the attention of one of the biggest alternative labels in the globe, and managed to build a dedicated international following that continuously showered the group with praise. No one could have blamed the group if they chose to write and release another album that sounded similar to the two they had already released. Heck, the band probably could have toured with the same group of bands they had always toured with as well. Hands Like Houses had enough going for them at that point that such decisions would have felt obvious, albeit safe, but as you can probably guess based on the rest of this post that is not what happened.
Starting with 2014’s Reimagine EP, Hands Like Houses began a sonic pivot that found their sound trending more towards mainstream rock than ever before while still retaining the alternative edge that had always been a cornerstone of the group’s music. Reimagine was little more than reinterpretations of material from the group’s previous LP, but it offered the group a chance to showcase a side of themselves audiences hadn’t really heard before, and fans of the bands were quick to express their pleasure in the change. Some were admittedly turned away as well, but that was bound to happen regardless of what the band chose to release. Some people simply hate change, and there is no way you can, well, change them.
Fast-forward another two years and Hands Like Houses are preparing to release their third full-length album, Dissonants, on February 26. The arrival of the record marks an end to the longest period that Hands Like Houses have gone without releasing new music, and it’s clear from the opening track “I Am” that the time away was very much needed. This album, more than any other release in the Hands Like Houses catalog, feels like the most authentic representation of who the band is and what they hope to convey through their music. That is not to say the group was ever dishonest in either respect, but listening to Dissonants makes it clear that some of the group’s earlier material had far more influence from the genre and culture it was produced in than what the band may have intended. This record, front to back and back to front, feels like a wholly authentic release created without any desire to cater to a specific scene, sound, or genre. Whether it’s the bouncy riff of “Perspectives” or the radio ready sounds of “Stillwater,” this album is a pitch perfect representation of what the men of Hands Like Houses have become over the better part of the last decade. It’s diverse collection of ideas and emotions presented without restraint, and it’s without a doubt the best material the group has ever released.
When I hear Dissonants I am reminded of that period in my life when I feared what might happen if I admitted to myself and everyone else that I had interests outside of punk. Like so many artists and music professionals, I thought my value to the world was equal to my standing amongst my alt/punk peers, and it wasn’t until I shook this thought from my head that I found true happiness and purpose in my life. I am punk, just like Hand Like Houses, but neither me or the men of that band are punk and nothing more. We are all humans, and as such we are influenced and inspired by a wide array of art, experiences, and conversations that all mesh together to make us the people we have become. My hope, like the hope of Hands Like Houses, is that I can show my true self to the world and be accepted just as I was when I thought being punk was all I would ever be. Life has taught me that such acceptance is possible, and Hands Like Houses new album has reminded me of that fact once again. The hardest part is taking it upon yourself to make a change. Once you do that, everything else will being to fall into place. Life might not be what you thought it would, but it won’t be as bad as you feared either. Just be you. No matter what, just be you.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
