Born out of the ashes of several Cork hardcore and punk outfits, Slow Motion Heroes, featuring Barry McAuliffe, Dan Breen, Joe Jolley, Jean-Michel Cavallo and Antoine Madiot, have now created a more melodic vehicle for their “light-and-shade” sonic approach. Recorded over a two-year period, Hinterland has all the signs of a carefully gestated, meticulously recorded collection of songs. It draws on the group’s punk roots, while successfully adding influences from early ’80s UK indie.
The short opening title track is almost elegiac in its starkness, recalling Boatman’s Call-era Nick Cave. ‘At The End Of A Big Wave’, meanwhile, smoulders at first, before building to a gloriously melodic crescendo that, er, echoes Echo & The Bunnymen.
However, Slow Motion Heroes’ hardcore past has not deserted them entirely. ‘Oceans’ boasts some lethally heavy riffage, while ‘When The Stars’ is a game of two halves, seguing from grinding rocker to gentle ballad. The band are at their best, though, on the more melodic material – ‘No Sense To A Summer’ weaves its magic like early Steely Dan, while ‘Zeta’ finds them soaring in a manner reminiscent of
Arcade Fire.
_Colm O’Hare // Out Now