Album Review: Homework - "Bang Here If Stuck"
Bang Here If Stuck, the debut album from Glasgow's Homework, pull graciously from bands like Pavement. Even with their sticky guitars and hooks, it might make the listener want to listen to the band they're imitating instead, rather than looking for a nostalgic trip.
Homework, not to be confused with the classic Daft Punk debut album of the same name, is a newish group out of Glasgow, Scotland. The Scots can do indie rock too! Franz Ferdinand, anyone? They've been performing together for a few years and have recently managed to release their debut album out now via Spanish label Meritorio Records. Titled Bang Here If Stuck, the album cover depicts the band stuck in an elevator. Cheeky stuff! The group's sound is youthful, energetic, and full of fun, lighthearted indie rock that sounds quite reminiscent of classic 90's indie rock a la Pavement, Built to Spill, Superchunk, and Guided By Voices. There are sticky hooks, solid guitar playing, and solid musicianship all around. "Heroes Welcome" is a great album opener that sets the tone right off the bat with infectious and sticky guitar riffs and layered instrumentation. There are super breezy tracks like album highlight "ASAP" that would be perfect for college radio. "Made" is pretty with its jangly, comforting guitars and tight hooks. "Thread & Thistle" has one of the more memorable guitar lines on the record, despite the weaker vocals.
Now here's where we get to the elephant in the room that is simply unavoidable... which is the essential 90's indie band known as Pavement. Throughout Bang Here If Stuck, Homework sound as if there is no other band in the world that exists other than Pavement. If you're familiar with Pavement, which I proudly am, then you will immediately notice the Stephen Malkmus-like vocals, the guitars, the hooks, and talky / slacky vocal delivery. It's all there in spades, so much so that it's impossible to untangle Pavement from Homework when compared. If Pavement never existed, Homework would cease to exist. That's exactly how this band presents themselves on this record. There's "Hedge Your Bets," which is so quintessentially Pavement that it sounds exactly like "Rattled By the Rush." It's good, but it sounds so much like that song that it's actually distracting. They channel other contemporaries like Yo La Tango on "Some Kind of Magic," specifically in the falsetto vocals and harmonies. "Velcro" has the sound of a rough, straight to tape that you would hear on Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted or more recently, from a Car Seat Headrest album. It even trades for vocals that sound like something Pavement's Scott Kannberg would've done. There's also "GVB," which sounds so much like Guided By Voices its song title is too on the nose if you switch the "V" and the "B."
Depending on the listener, this could ultimately be either a deal breaker or a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Yes, I do find it super distracting, but I also enjoy the band's sound. Yes, they pull so much from Pavement that it's silly at times, but it's still an enjoyable record if I want to listen to something new that visibly sounds like 90's indie rock. This isn't an album that's truly profound or engaging enough to consider going back to again and again. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to dig deeper in the album and come up with not much else besides the Pavement pastiche you get from the surface. Homework are a solid, young band that can put together a tune. If you're interested in something new that sounds eerily similar to Pavement, then this is a good bet. Otherwise, for better or for worse, Bang Here If Stuck just makes me want to listen to Pavement instead.
My Rating: 6 / 10
Favorite Songs: "ASAP," "Made," "Heroes Welcome," "Velcro"
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