It’s been four years since we’ve heard from Dot Hacker, the band that features guitarist and singer Josh Klinghoffer, formerly of Red Hot Chili Peppers, guitarist Clint Walsh, bassist Jonathan Hischke and drummer Eric Gardner. Even though we’re almost a year deep into a pandemic, the band has emerged to release their first new music since 2017’s N°3. Today we’re premiering their new song “Divination,” which was of course made remotely in quarantine and produced by the band’s own Clint Walsh. It’s a rolling slow-burn of a song that showcases the various members’ talents and carries plenty of momentum across its three and a half minute runtime.
Dot Hacker are a tough band to peg, bringing in immense talent across the board and experience working with a wide range of artists. All four members are rock & roll mainstays, having contributed significantly to many genres over their decades-long careers. “Divination” takes all of their talents and influences and combines them into a song that’s difficult to pin down to a specific genre. There are echoing drum patterns, layered synths, softly played guitars and Klinghoffer’s unique vocal delivery – if anything, it would fit squarely in the ambiguous classification of art rock. The song soars at some points, pitters out to nothing but distortion and drums at others, never letting the listener get too comfortable with any repetitive songwriting pattern.
The members of the band have been busy in the four years since N°3 was released, working on separate projects. Klinghoffer has released two full length albums as Pluralone, To Be One With You and I Don’t Feel Well in addition to several singles including “Shade”, which we premiered in October 2019. Walsh collaborated with fellow Clint, the well-known composer and musician Clint Mansell, on reimagination of Lou Reed’s “Berlin.” Hischke toured and recorded with the skate punk band Cigar, desert rockers Masters Of Reality, and RX Bandits’ experimental rock side project Sound of Animals Fighting. Gardner has recorded with Tom Morello on 2018’s The Atlas Underground and Ben Lee on Quarter Century Classix, and even filled in for Butch Vig as the touring drummer for alt-rock legends Garbage. Gardner is also a visual artist and one of his collages serves as the single artwork for “Divination.”
Along with the new single, the band is re-releasing their debut album Inhibition on a tri-color splatter vinyl, which you can pre-order on their merch site. It’ll also have new packaging artwork. As if that was enough, the band will release a limited edition 7″ vinyl that will feature some b-sides from the Inhibition sessions. That includes the song “Rewire,” which is only available on the band’s 2012 debut EP, which preceded Inhibition by a few months. The bundle of the LP reissue and the 7″ is available in limited numbers – 400 copies.
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