Review: Massive Hassle ‘Number One’
The opening bars of the opening track called Lane, are so soft and smooth, they are like a fine single malt being poured over a piece of freshly picked ice from the tip of an iceberg, lulling you into a false sense of security. No Titanic references here I can assure you, but it certainly leads you onto many, many different paths, each one keeping your mind focused and questioning what exactly is going to happen next and where it’s going to lead.
Massive Hassle are a two-piece rock band from Nottingham, featuring the brothers Marty and Bill Fisher, who have featured in a number of bands, including Mammothwing, Dystopian Future Movies and Church of the Cosmic Skull, so just from that you can sort of tell which direction the music is going to lead you.
With Bill on drums and Marty on guitar, they share the vocal duties, singing in harmony and unison throughout, and they whetted the public’s appetite by releasing the dreamy and rather sumptuous Drifter back in July.
The songs are definitely an experiment from the brothers as they have taken so many styles and genres and fused them together to make some damn fine music. So, whether you like garage, rock, jazz, blues, punk, country or doom and metal you’ll find something in here to get your feet tapping and head nodding. The tracks are astoundingly smooth and deeply moving, with their second single Twos giving you a further insight into their music ideology.
go and enjoy Number One because it’s how music should sound…
However, the real beauty of what the bearded brethren brothers are doing lies in the fact that all the songs are recorded live and filmed in singular takes, so they aren’t over-produced, sample-replaced, multi-tracked to high heaven, and the evidence is there for all to see on their YouTube channel.
Songs like Knife with that extra doom kick in the beat, and the recently released Drink with the lovely fuzzy warmness running throughout the song, show what can be done when musicians strip everything back to basics and do what they love the most.
These songs will put a smile on people’s faces, even the ones who the band have managed to piss off due to their logo and genre claims, so go and enjoy Number One because it’s how music should sound.
Label: Septaphonic Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
