In 2017, outside a Des Demonas/Heavy Breathing gig at Black Cat, I was talking to Mark Cisneros about his work with DD, and about another dozen bands. Mark said then that he had recently been playing with Alec MacKaye (The Untouchables, The Faith, The Warmers, Ignition) and Mary Timony (Autoclave, Helium, Wild Flag, Ex Hex) and that he hoped it would lead to something. Well, it certainly did.
Hammered Hulls, the band featuring those three plus Chris Wilson (Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Titus Andronicus), made its debut at the Black Cat 25th anniversary show in late 2018. An EP came out pre-COVID, and now, finally, the first full-length is here. Careening, out on Dischord on Friday, reveals just how much spark is still left in a distinctly D.C.-style of post-punk, even as track after track surprises a listener by how much the sound upends expectations.
With MacKaye on vocals, Timony on bass, Wilson on drums, and Cisneros on guitars, the band is primed for an attack, yet this isn't pure punk. No, what's here on Careening pulls in elements of garage rock, art rock, and metal to whip up a righteous fury. "Hardest Road" and "Bog People" have a familiar harDCore feel, I suppose, but Hammered Hulls compel when they go in other directions. "Pilot Light" is angular and abrasive, while "Not Gone" catches fire very nearly like something from Raw Power-era Iggy & The Stooges. "Rights and Reproduction", a barbed-wire blast, seems exactly like what fans can reliably expect from Alec MacKaye, even as "Needlepoint Tiger" goes along another path. With Timony's bass working up a bounce that's like Peter Hook playing reggae, the song coils up and then explodes. That one and the brash "Staggering Genius" may be my fave tracks here on Careening.
Ian MacKaye's production gives this whole thing a clean, natural sound. Fans of the genre, and those who grew up on the output of Dischord, will certainly find the majority of this record the stylisic culimnation of what bands like Fire Party, The Faith, and others did earlier. For me, what's so impressive about Careening is how much of this approaches punk from unexpected angles. MacKaye's vocals jump from a Bon Scott-like sneer on one song to an Osterberg moan on another, while Cisneros conjures sheets of sound ("Abstract City") or even a slightly gentle melodicism ("Mission Statement"). Timony's bass gives the whole thing heft, anchoring the tracks with a heaviness and force that's pure harDCore, as is the drumming by Wilson.
Careening is not only what you hoped these four would produce, it's more. The tracks have power and a jagged honesty that lets this sit next to the best material any of these players released in earlier bands. And, wisely, the four musicians here have used Hammered Hulls and Careening to reveal the new shapes the punk form can fill. The record thrills as it serves up spindly, yet emotive music with a conciseness that's a bit staggering.
Careening from Hammered Hulls is out on Friday via Dischord.
[Band photos: me, 2018, Black Cat, D.C.]