Hallelujah the Hills
A Band Is Something To Figure Out

Take a moment to listen to this album. I mean, in general, what do we want from what we listen to? We always ask too much. We demand that everything we listen to must necessarily give us something back with some important content. Even didactic. There are people who listen to something only if they are sure they have a quality product in front of them, something that can somehow change their life or at least give them some kind of revelation and a new way to approach the things of existence and maybe clarify to them what is happening around them.

Well, what can I say. I agree. In short, I appreciate this point of view and this approach in general and not only for what may be a new album, but I believe that you can approach everything around us and that happens to us in this way. I always try to make sense of all things, I make connections and comparisons between all things, I always try to come out of every situation with an answer in hand.

Alright. Let's try it this time again, even if the album in question is certainly not study material for thought enthusiasts. The Hallelujah the Hills, this indie rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, released their latest album in April and gave it this title: 'A Band Is Something To Figure Out'. How should we interpret it, and I say it even as someone who evidently does not have a perfect grasp of the English language. Should we consider this title as a definition they wanted to give themselves or should we believe that the true message is that being inside, being part of a band can be a way to try to make sense of things?

Obviously, I want to understand the title of the album in the second definition given and in this sense try to give a new meaning to music, to what it means to listen to music and at the same time make music, be part of a band. We have talked several times, perhaps too many, about the myth of rock and roll and this claim we have to always and anyway give music and rock and roll in particular, a dense, meaningful, and relevant significance concerning life, death, and all other things. And that's fine. It can be fine. As I said, it is something I understand and do myself. But we must not overlook another aspect. What is music, after all, if not sound and what is sound if not a form of communication and communicating and being together means 'life'. No, we're not just talking about entertainment. Music, if you mean it this way, is much more, but you can also, if you want, consider that entertainment can mean life if you understand the thing in both possible senses: that is, being entertained and at the same time entertaining. In other words, folks, you need to have a leading role in what is your existence. You need to be the master of your life, participate in it actively. We must do something, and I don't know exactly what, but it is surely always the right time to make a move.

This is the sixth album that the band has released over about ten years of activity. The album is released via Discrete Pageantry and it's a good album of what we might define as indie rock or garage music. Rock and roll. Naturally listening to it, one can immediately think of the Strokes ('What Do The People Want', 'Play It As It Loops'), who, like them or not, have certainly been one of the most influential bands of the last fifteen years and not only in the United States of America. There are obvious parallels with the New York band in terms of sharp guitars and the way of singing. A way of playing music in a dirty manner with evident roots in the heritage of New York City in the seventies. But the band we are facing is not a rookie band nor the usual next big thing. These guys have been playing for ten years and know what it means to play good garage music and they are definitely not amateurs. We thus find elements that might remind us of one of the most influential bands of the nineties like Pavement and Silver Jews, therefore that great son of a gun Stephen Malkmus ('Spin Them Atoms', 'We Have The Perimeter Surrounded'), but also the incredible legacy left by the power pop bands of the Elephant Six Recording Company roster, bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and Elf Power, the Apples In Stereo ('Realistic Birthday Music', 'The Girl With Electronics Inside').

A listening experience that is an explosion of joy, music that demands no particular interpretation and just wants to be listened to and enjoyed for what it is. Enjoy it everyone then, dance, move your behind to the music, jump, make love, rejoice, breathe, live.