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Label: Atlantic - Rating:
Hello Hurricane, Switchfoot's brilliant new album, is a tour dé force of Jon Foreman's sublime vocals and Drew Shirley's, Jerome Fontamillas's, and Foreman's superb guitars. Foreman sings throughout like a young, hungry Bono mixed with pieces of Ian Astbury and Morrissey. The mix of his vocals above the music is reminiscent of how the Smiths' albums were mixed. The great Mike Elizondo and Switchfoot marvelously produced Hello Hurricane.
Hello Hurricane, like U2's best work, is a fabulous mixture of fast guitar rock, nuanced mid-tempo tunes, and slower, softer songs. We were quite taken with this mixture of styles and how it kept us engaged. Quite impressive.
Jon Foreman, his brother and bassist Tim Foreman, and mates want to get us off to a rocking good time with the anthemic opener "Needle And Haystack Life." Guitar on this song overwhelms us in a pleasant way like being overwhelmed by a gaggle of swimsuit models; this kind of feeling is what we live for. Twin guitars and drums played with the power of Alex Van Halen shock us at the start of the raver "Mess of Me." Guitar effects are short and modern. The time change brings to mind Metallica at its best.
"Your Love Is A Song" is a gorgeous mid-tempo tune played with both the force of Led Zeppelin and the light touch of U2 and R.E.M. Foreman's voice is transcendent and consistent. Chiming and driving guitar caress us and Foreman's bass works seamlessly with Chad Butler's drums to form a tight, forceful rhythm section. Foreman's bass is heard most strongly on the riveting title track.
"The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)" rouses us like the best Alarm and Big Country. The vocal choruses are uplifting and unique. The powerful guitar sounds like how Hendrix would play his if he preferred shorter chords and was playing in this era. We feel raised and ready to do good work, to defend the faith, to properly admire beauty.
"Enough To Let Me Go" starts off mellowly and features nice single string guitar notes. The tempo of this song increases but is never too fast and the mellow tone continues throughout. Very few bands that we've heard can rock as hard as Switchfoot and also create beautiful mid-tempo and slower songs.
An excellent example of a great mid-tempo song is "Free" which features organ sounding keyboards like those on "Kashmir." Foreman sings "Inside this shell there's a prison cell" to possibly remind us that we're all prisoners of our bodies. Like the best rock, there are as many interpretations of these lyrics as there are snowflakes.
"Always" is an ingenious slower tune reminiscent of the experimentation Led Zeppelin showed on In Through the Out Door and the softness perhaps the greatest of all rock bands showed on Led Zeppelin III. Zeppelin placed short, acoustic sets in its concerts and, if Switchfoot hasn't done this yet, the band may decide to go in this direction.
"Bullet Soul" is beyond cool like the best Lenny Kravitz. Foreman's voice sounds like Lenny at his most real and rocking. Guitars from heaven compete and soothe - the solo midway is pure rock perfection.
"Yet" is a superb slower track featuring chiming guitars like the Edge's. "Sing It Out" follows "Yet" and is also slower. The prolonged guitar sounds at the beginning are superb. As superb are Fontamillas's keys, Butler's drums, and Foreman's falsetto. Drums enter after the mysterious mood of the song reminiscent of the best Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin has been set.
"Red Eyes," the album's final track, is yet another slower tune and greets us kindly with guitar and drums. Foreman sings, "All of my days are spent/Within this skin/Within this cage that I'm in" with a contemplative yearning that, once again, reminds us of the ace Bono. Jagger himself has compared his life to living in a cage. The slower songs at the end of the album remind us of the slower, glorious endings of the classics Remain In Light by the Talking Heads and the Melvins's Stoner Witch.
Switchfoot's startling ability to play excellent songs of different types can be both a blessing and a curse. If the band becomes indecisive and fearful, they may fail to make new music in a timely manner, allow these issues to destroy the band, or make songs that have no real definition. If the band stays true to itself and continues to connect with its fans by playing live, it will have the confidence to build upon the magnificence that is Hello Hurricane.
Four guns.
Like Switchfoot? Check out: Relient K, Sanctus Real, Jars of Clay
Want More Switchfoot?
Jason Coldiron's Interview With Switchfoot's Chad Butler
View all of our Switchfoot Photos (Roxy)
News/Tour Dates
Review of Hello Hurricane
