| HOCKEY - Laneway Festival 2010 Artist |
| Written by Elle Hunt |
| Monday, 18 January 2010 23:18 |
 And if the response to the band’s full-length recording debut is anything to go by, Hockey have achieved their aim. Critics have described ‘Mind Chaos’ as having “bags of vitality and personality”, and “a freewheeling sparkiness”, which promises that Hockey’s first performance in New Zealand – next month, at the inaugural Laneway festival – is not to be missed. ‘Mind Chaos’ is contagious in its playfulness – a direct result of the positive energy between the group’s members. Reynolds, vocalist Benjamin Grubin, guitarist Brian White, and drummer Anthony Stassi formed Hockey while in college: and in this regard, though “it might as well be a DJ”, this is most definitely a band. Hockey have been compared to LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Talking Heads, and The Strokes - but, in reality, they’re more likely to share fans with indie rock darlings MGMT, Arctic Monkeys, and fellow up-and-comers Cage The Elephant. Indeed, Grubin has a conversational delivery that’s reminiscent of Cage The Elephant’s Mathew Schultz, and both bands first found fame and have a cult following in England, far away from their native U.S. of A. The key difference is that where Cage The Elephant have shades of country music blended in with their radio-friendly rock, Hockey seems to be influenced by ‘80s synth-pop. This works in their favour: their dance beats give them a refreshing edge, and ensure they stand out from a crowd of almost interchangeable punk-rock bands. Take ‘Too Fake’, the first single from ‘Mind Chaos’, which opens with a bubbling synth that sounds like it’s been lifted straight from a retro video game.  Along with ‘Too Fake’, the other highlight of the album is considered to be ‘Song Away’, which is somewhat reminiscent of hits by Talking Heads and David Bowie. And although they’ve clearly got a long way to go before they’ll ever be spoken of in the same way as those greats, ‘Mind Chaos’ has proven to be a promising start. On ‘Four Holy Pianos’, Grubin tries on his best Dylan drawl, while ‘Preacher’ has a honky-tonk, ‘Bennie & The Jets’ vibe. Their debut finds Hockey adopting a number of different styles: only time, and the experience it’ll bring the band, will tell which they’ll adopt for the long-term. Even though they’re still exploring their sound, Hockey are already renowned for their live performances, and have a string of sets at music festivals to their name - having performed at the legendary Glastonbury Festival in 2009, and a number of other events around Europe, including those based in Sweden and Norway. They’ve also toured with The Killers and Friendly Fires: certainly, Laneway should be a cinch. Although a young band, there’s no doubt that Hockey are definitely ‘ones to watch’. Catch them at Britomart Square on 1st February 2010, or miss the opportunity to see this next big thing, in what may later be described as their ‘early years’.  |
