Hooray For Humans - Safekeeping

Out On A Limb

Cork’s Hooray For Humans are just a year old, and yet have managed to churn out their debut album already. Impressively, Safekeeping doesn’t feel particularly rushed and features moments of genuine quality. ‘Signature’ sets the tone – fuzzy guitar-pop, sweet boy-girl vocals, various shouty bits and an instantly hummable chorus. H4H make much of their more avant-garde influences but their leftfield flourishes serve mostly as a garnish to the main course of Pixies-indebted indie rock – which is fine as far as it goes, but over an entire album they’re perhaps slightly over-reliant on the hollered vocals shtick. Having said that, the electro throb of ‘Don’t Drink That!’ and ‘Kittenfish’s M83-inflected coda suggest a genuinely experimental heart beating beneath the pop hooks. Elsewhere, the quiet, twinkling ‘Goodnight’ is probably the loveliest 120 seconds on the whole album, while mini-epic closer ‘Salt ‘n’ Vinegar’ is full of unexpected changes of direction. As a relatively new act, it’s no criticism to suggest that there’s a sense here of a band still to truly find their niche. Quite the opposite – it’ll be fascinating to see where Hooray for Humans go from here. Safekeeping is a debut full of sparkle and promise – cause for celebration indeed. Neill Dougan

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DOWNLOAD: ‘SIGNATURE’, ‘GOODNIGHT’, ‘SALT ‘N’ VINEGAR’.
FOR FANS OF: PIXIES, ASH, M83.

Issue #50 - The Power To Know

Featuring The Top 50 NI Songs of Our Lifetime, The Streets, Deerhoof, Seasick Steve, Fucked Up, Garth Ennis and more.