Quick Hitters:: Hospital Grade

Ok, I'm pretty sure it would be remiss of me to mention that one New Brunswick band is playing a Halifax show this Friday night to celebrate the release of their new album, and ignore another that is doing the same thing. So I hope the Chuck at BBQ records and the fine gents in Hospital Grade will forgive me for only getting this up the day before the show, but I only realized yesterday that they were playing the Seahorse with The Memories Attack, The Just Barelys, and Bloodsport.

We featured Hospital Grade on our New Brunswick mix, but like a lot of the bands on there, neither the Ack and I were familiar with them. But I was happy to check out their new album, Secrets & Sawdust, and unless I'm mistaken, I believe this is the second full length release from this Saint John four piece. Because I'm trying to beat the clock and get this posted before their show tomorrow, I haven't spent as much time with the album as I would like, but I can say that the confidence exuded across these eleven songs gives the impression you are listening to a band with many more releases under their belt. This may be due to the fact that frontman Jason Ogden and bassist Andrew Earle have been collaborating since the early 90's with NB punk-scene stalwarts NFA (Ogden certainly has no derth of experience, his acoustic-ish side project Penny Blacks has also recieved some run here on the hill).

The thought and effort put into Secrets & Sawdust is really quite obvious. It is loud, aggressive, and yet also melodic. It is explosive and quiet. The song structures and tempos are varied not only from song to song, but also within songs. None of this feels forced however, and the result is an album that feels a little challenging - it doesn't allow the listener to go on autopilot, but it's still an enjoyable listen. The post punk guitar and drum aggression of songs like The Sea Will Punish Us, Empty Ambulance Bay, and Walking Papers, Too is matched in equal measure by the melodic indie rock found on the likes of If I Said Helvetica, An Essay In Your Lungs, and Ten Year Ring. And if that's not enough, there's the crazily named Co_pachuuh_coah, which feels like a jammin' post rock instrumental until the vocals after about a minute and a half.

I think it's safe to say I'm going to be spending a bit of time with this album in the immediate future, and I'm hoping I won't be the only one. With three other solid bands joining them on the bill tomorrow night on the Seahorse, I doubt the Ack and I will be the only ones spending our Friday night with Hospital Grade.

myspace :: label :: buy the record