Nick Weaver
Nick Weaver
Making their debut on Friday, Hockey Dad, an Australian surf-rock duo, released the album “Boronia.” The group comprises childhood friends Zach Stephenson and Billy Fleming from the Windang suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales. Prior to the release of the album, the duo’s only available work included a sparse collection of singles and the EP’s “So Tired” and “Dreamin.” Inspired by a love of surfing and music, the group formed over the years as Fleming and Stephenson grew closer and honed their skills.
With this background in mind, it is clear that surf-rock should be the ideal genre for the duo to work on, and is indeed lovingly adhered to throughout the album. Hockey Dad uses a classic setup instrument-wise: mildly distorted rhythm guitar, lightly distorted lead guitar and a small four or five-piece drum kit. The melodies of their songs are carried heavily by vocalist Stephenson, whose voice is single-tracked with light echo and reverb throughout the album. For the most part, I would describe “Boronia” as a simple but catchy up-tempo album. While the album does slow down and change keys for the songs “Dylan’s Place” and “Two Forever,” this is generally what one should expect for every other song without exception. Neither instrumentation nor guitar/vocal effects vary in any notable amount throughout the course of the album, save only for the negligible addition of a short keyboard or synth riff during the chorus of two or three songs.
Like every album, “Boronia” has its positives and its negatives, and its overall quality in this case is largely down to your personal preference. Some of the things it does right, for example, are choruses. Songs like “So Tired” and “Can’t Have Them” are wonderfully catchy because of this, with an impressive show of range for vocalist Stephenson. Not to mention the powerful nature of a good riff, a catchy chorus is an accomplishment in itself given its ability to make or break a tune. For a couple of songs, the fun, memorable choruses were enough to make me enjoy the songs in spite of forgettable verses and bridges.
Alongside this the duo has managed to create a rather full sound given their small and simple setup of instruments and low post-production effects. Despite lacking any ambient noise or wildly different guitar/vocal filters, Hockey Dad fills the album with the charm of a full four-piece band and an admirable unison. The instruments and vocals blend together nicely to form a whole, presenting the listener with the endearing image of sun, beach and happiness.
However, with its successes come its failings. While the album starts off strong with “Can’t Have Them,” “A Night Out With” and “So Tired,” that fuzzy, beachy rock vibe becomes incredibly standard as the tracks progress. Featuring only one solo of any kind on the track “Grange,” “Boronia” won’t surprise the average listener much at all, except for tracks “Two Forever” and “Grange,” at slots 10 and 11 on the album respectively. All songs stick to the standard formula of lead guitar intro, muted rhythm guitar verse, and upbeat chorus with a melody carried by either the vocals or the lead guitar. Every beat is about the same; with most tracks except for track 10 being your standard upbeat rock song in a major key. To add to all of this, the album is poorly mastered, with all instruments and vocals being on about the same level. Put simply, the album lacks variety and depth. This causes individual songs to blur at certain points on the album, making it much harder to distinguish various parts from one another.
Now, given that this is Hockey Dad’s debut, I personally find this to be acceptable. If an album can have that many issues and still be enjoyable, then their second album is definitely worth a shot. If they can clean up their production, add some variety to their writing and perhaps play around with ambience or different filters, then the duo has a real shot at something special for their next album.
Fans of Wavves and Best Coast should put Hockey Dad on their watch lists for 2017. I’d mainly recommend “Boronia” to those craving some new classic surf-rock. If you can overlook its formulaic nature, then there’s a great album waiting here for you. Alternatively, if you’re not particularly a fan of this specific subgenre of alternative rock, then this album is most likely not for you. I, however, particularly enjoyed it.