After what seems like
a decade of waiting in anticipation for the debut album from New Zealand’s
favourite Rock duo, the wait is no more!
Skinny Hobos have been
a common house hold name in the world of Rock in the last few years, and unless you live under a rock, they have quite a solid reputation for working
themselves ragged gigging around our fine shores to quench the thirst of bogans,
rockers, metal heads, and well, pretty much everyone and everything in between,
because if you haven’t yet heard the news, Skinny Hobos really are that good.
If you’ve been
fortunate enough to catch them live on any given tour date over the years, then
you’ll know exactly what I mean. Skinny Hobos is Alex on vocals
and guitar, and Sam on drums and sharing vocal duty too. That’s it. No smoke
and mirrors, no gimmicks.
Skinny Hobos are an
explosive force of noise that finds its way straight to your soul. They groove
and harmonize like Jerry Cantrell and the late great Layne Staley and blow your
mind with epic solos (of the guitar and drum variety) and crushing riffs that
makes your limbs do this thing where they uncontrollably move on their own.
They’re a foot
stomping whale of a time, extremely humble and lovely men who can bring down
the roof at any venue they play, not to mention captivate the musical minds of
every single punter in attendance.
Their debut is a
self-titled slab of unprecedented nine songs, full of bite, which many will
already know from their swag of previously released singles, The Merchant of Tirau, Suburban Living and Jokers & Fools and the newly released and crowd favourite, Jacked Like the Ripper.
Clocking in at some
thirty-eight minutes in total may not seem very long, but what’s in a length
of a debut, when you can just have it on repeat multiple times thereafter? (trust
me on this one)
Alex and Sam are solid
and captivating musicians. The way they blend and gel together onstage, or in a
studio is evident and what they create is something we can all be proud of.
Opening track Sevenatenine (also a fan favourite
onstage) captures that bluesy stoner vibe (‘a la Kyuss, Fu Manchu etc)
signature riffs, extended solos. Everything that embodies Skinny Hobo’s
presence, while Queen Street is fast,
furious and in your face with its explosive tempo.
Skinny Hobo’s debut is
unquestionably something you need to get behind, discover and put on repeat
until you’re exhausted, and then go catch them live to exhaust yourself even
more, because it’s never enough.
You know you wanna…
Review written by Kerry Monaghan
Skinny Hobos are a 2-piece Alternative Rock band from Auckland, New Zealand who make far more noise than any two people should!
The Hobos have quickly earned a reputation for being the hardest working band in town. In 2015, they played more shows than there were weeks in the year, as well as recording their debut album at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios with engineer Nick Poortman (Ekko Park, Jason Kerrison).
They finished off the year with a very successful co-headlined North Island tour with Wellington band Bakers Eddy, and they were also featured in the December/January issue of NZ Musician Magazine.