Monster Zero Records, 01 Apr 2022
The Hallingtons study hard at Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.
What make The Ramones great to me isn’t just the buzzsaw guitars and fast pace, the demented lyrics and minimalist rhythms. It is the total adoration of 50’s rock and roll and 60’s bubblegum. The songs have a serrated edge, certainly. But the incredibly catchy hooks and pop made the songs stick even in the most lobotomized brains. And when more recent bands remember these lessons, the results tend to land squarely in my wheelhouse.
Case in point: Oslo, Norway’s The Hallingtons. They’ve been sorta on my radar for a while now, releasing a handful of singles and EP’s that caught my attention but never left me fully enamored. I was a bit interested, but certainly no die-hard, waiting for the band to hit me with something irrefutable. With the new full-length Hop Til’ You Drop, The Hallingtons hit a sugary sweet spot that I can’t stop listening to. The band is obviously indebted to Ramones (I mean, take a look at the cover – leather jackets, a Joey-striped t-shirt, and Ramones-style font), and the songs are, too. All the way through, catchy melodies destroy my brain without ever going soft.
I suppose I should mention a few favorites (and take note, even the song titles seem like they could be Ramones titles). Opener “I’m Not Coming Back To You” is a buzzy pop punk number with an impeccable melody, a catchy guitar hook, and fun shouted backing vocals on the chorus. It kinda reminds me of the sorta thing I’d hear on a Mean Jeans record. “Go Godzilla” has a great vocal hook, using both a bubblegum melody and memorable phrasing (and it has handclaps; that alone sells me). “Slaughterhouse” is another fantastic one. The simple chorus of “slaughterhouse, slaughterhouse, it’s gonna be a slaughterhouse” had me singing along the first time through and the hooks throughout are catchy as can be. I’d say the same for “I Believe In UFOs” and its brainworm chorus and “whoa-oh”’s.
Elsewhere, “Out Of My Mind” sounds a little darker and buzzing when it starts out, but the melody on the chorus is wonderful in its unexpectedness. I was surprised by the juxtaposition of the lead and backing vocals, but they have real staying power. That one’s followed up with “Alien Girl”, which is in the running for best pure pop punk song on Hop. The chorus is maddeningly catchy and the lead guitar is seared into my head after a few listens. It’s the right stuff. “Becky’s On E” is a fast one with “1, 2, 3, 4”’s and “ba ba ba”’s all over the place and is pretty much the right stuff, too. Then we have “Your Boy”, which sounds like something a pepped-up The Wonders (the fictitious band from the movie “That Thing You Do”) might do. It has maybe the most purely sweet and pop-perfect hooks on the record, with great vocals singing rounds and harmonizing, guitars that buzz and chime, and drums that bounce and double-tap a rhythm. It’s pop gold. And, truth is, these aren’t the only good ones. I dig the songs I haven’t named, too. There’s nothing on here I’m skipping past.
Hop Til’ You Drop is one of the most ridiculously catchy albums I’ve heard in a bit. The Hallingtons have taken notes from Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and it shows. Hop isn’t revolutionary and it’s not going to push any boundaries or re-write any punk rock foundations. But the songs are fun and a good time, just the kinda stuff I get infatuated with. If you like Ramones and Ramones-derived stuff, this will do the trick for ya.
Favorite song: “Alien Girl” or “I’m Not Coming Back To You”
Favorite moment: the “Go Godzilla” vocal hook on the verse hits good
Favorite whatever else: the weirdly jarring lead/backing vocal on “Out Of My Mind” caught me way off guard, but I really like it
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
