Hook and Anchor seem to have found a way to incorporate every country music cliché into their album, whilst still sounding fairly original – that’s not to say that their self-titled debut release is a great album, but at least they have the sense to imbue a flagging genre with some form of innovation. It’s just a shame that those pieces of innovation aren’t given enough attention.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Kati Claborn may be most well-known for her work with indie band Blind Pilot, a truly engaging and somewhat refreshing band, yet it seems she has swapped the indie circuit for the country road, a decision made somewhat baffling by the rather mixed bag of songs on display on Hook and Anchor. In particular, ‘Hammer’ is a pretty bizarre choice, standing out like a sore thumb it destroys any semblance of connection the album had and comes off sounding like a B-side from Songs of Praise.
However, ‘Hammer’ remains the only weak point of the album as the rest meanders along just fine, never really hitting any moments that could be attributed to greatness, but never really reaching that low peak either. As far as debut albums go it is a fine example of a group who clearly have talent but haven’t found the courage to create their own path just yet.
‘Concerning Spectral Pinching’ and ‘No, It’s Not’ are particularly excellent tracks – a whole album of songs similar to the talent on display in these two would see Hook and Anchor excelling in their genre. For now, though, Hook and Anchor remains a strong debut for a band who could either sink or swim depending on how much courage they apply to their own originality.
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