Summers in the Garage

Garage rock band Audacity has their accountant listed under the “Band Members” section of their Wikipedia page, which is a pretty good glimpse into the fun-filled vibe that can be seen all over the band’s latest album, Hyper Vessels. Every song is catchier than the last and will have you dancing around your room or singing along at the top of your lungs as you drive with the windows down. This is a summer album without a doubt, and you can feel the sun in every song.

That sing-along will get started right away with the opening track “Counting the Days,” which gives a great idea of the energetic record to follow. The infectiously catchy “Umbrellas” brings the fuzz, the perfect hazy sound for hanging out in the sun, despite it’s rainy song title. A highlight on the album is “Dirty Boy,” filled with frantic guitar solos and packed with energy, you can really see where their punk roots come through without ever being too abrasive. This energy carries through the album’s final song, another instant sing-along, “Lock on the Door.”

Hyper Vessels is undoubtedly tighter and neater around the edges than earlier releases like 2008’s Power Drowning (an excellent punk record with a lot more punk than their current sound) but fans of their last full length Butter Knife, released in 2013) will find a lot of the same catchy, poppy goodness in this newest effort. Now 15 years into their career, it’s expected that Audacity’s sound would mature and evolve and fortunately they’ve found a natural way to do it gracefully. No one wants the same messy punk band from their teens to still be playing like they’re at least a decade younger than they are (or we get things like the current iteration of Black Flag) and Audacity has found the perfect balance of maintaining the enthusiasm of their earlier years while also showing that they can grow. Hopefully we can expect even more of the same from them in the future, because Hyper Vessels is a major contender for 2016.