My Star

On their early releases, the Hecks (initially the duo of Andy Mosiman and Zach Hebert) played a tense, angular form of deconstructed post-punk that seemed to focus on certain elements of rock music songcraft rather than build them into one solid, sturdy package. This included tracks made up primarily of clanging, throbbing guitars or scorched noise drones. After the band released their self-titled debut album in 2016, engineer Dave Vettraino joined the group full-time, and keyboard player Jeff Graupner soon became their fourth member. This added an entirely new dimension to the Hecks music, causing them to scrap the initial sessions for their second album and completely rework the material. With My Star, theyve reinvented themselves as a twisted new wave act, injecting Day-Glo synths into their jittery tunes and channeling the repetition of their earlier work into something more driving and hypnotic. This is also the first Hecks release that could possibly be perceived as being funky, thanks to the excited bounce of the rhythm section and the loopy guitar parts. Its not unlike Guerilla Toss transformation from a skronky no wave group to a more party-friendly unit, resulting in their most satisfying work. However, the Hecks still seem a bit introverted, and the absurdist lyrics of their earlier releases are traded for more straightforward, heartfelt sentiments, such as the refrain of Its tearing me apart during the shimmering Heat Wave, or the longing hook of the Dirty Mind-esque So 4 Real (I only wanted to be with you). Rapid-fire opener Zipper is Devo riding a high-speed Tilt-a-Whirl, while The Fool is half of the Cars playing a brief, impromptu concert in an alley before jetting. For the finale, My Star, the band find a guitar hook so triumphant that they repeat it for eight minutes, gradually adding further layers and a straightforward drum pound until they eventually drive off into the sunset. Theres still a bit of a sense of detachment to these tracks, but the Hecks refusal (or inability) to do anything by the numbers is what makes them so fascinating. ~ Paul Simpson