CUTTING UP THE PRESENT LEAKS OUT THE FUTURE
RELEASED: 17TH FEBRUARY 2014
It’s easy to see Hatcham Social as veterans of sorts: riding onto the mid-2000s scene in a blaze of limited 7“s, they’ve made it to a third album unscathed. The ten tracks of ‘Cutting Up the Present Leaks Out the Future’ sounds like an assured celebration of their existence outside of rock ‘n’ roll’s latest whims.
Recent single ‘Lion with a Laser Gun’ illustrates the layered quality of the album: tracks might sound jaunty in places, but the mournful tones never quite leave you. Each feels like a snippet of a much longer tale, usually somewhere towards its dark conclusion.
On the rest of the album ‘Ketamine Queen’ meanders in a narcotic haze, while ‘Confessions of an English Opium Smoker’ harks back to ‘60s beat bands. ‘Don’t Go to Sleep’ is a plaintive cry to keep the night alive, but it’s already half-submerged in psychedelic slumber.
This is the present, leaked out from varying parts of guitar music’s past: the album arrives via ‘60s sounds and an ‘80s tape machine. The fuzz that bookends most of the tracks speaks both of a breakneck recording speed, and the fact that lo-fi doesn’t have to mean grunge. It’s an album that’s not showy, not shouty, and maybe not even very 2014 – but Hatcham Social seem pretty happy with that.
FEB 15TH: MANCHESTER, SOUP KITCHEN
FEB 16TH: GLASGOW, NICE AND SLEAZY
FEB 18TH: LONDON, LEXINGTON
FEB 19TH: BRISTOL, LOUISIANA