Heavy Hearts – Somewhere a While Ago

Upon hitting play to kick off my latest spin of Somewhere A While Ago, the new EP from Canadian quartet Heavy Hearts I am immediately transported back to the 90’s, and more specifically the alternative noise from bands like Mystery Machine, Deftones or even earlier Smashing Pumpkins.

Somewhere A While Ago does make great use of the classic wall of sound style, with layer upon layer of swirling distorted guitars punctuated by spikey solos and all backed up by a solid rhythm section in [insert bass player and drummer names here]  and whilst the lyrics are delivered with a certain clarity, it just still sounds very generic. Ok, maybe that’s a little harsh, I mean every song has cool elements, the riff on Underwater Shakespeare is killer, Bambi Legs (besides having a great title) channels Alt metal heroes Deftones in nearly all the right ways , with only the vocals slightly letting it down, and on Wash the bridge into the solo following the 2^nd chorus is hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck epic. Having said all that, easily the best track on the EP is Garden Arm, the distorted guitars are at their best, vocals are solid and there are some brilliantly catchy melodies buried under the layers of distortion. It really is no surprise that this is also the lead single.

Somewhere A While Ago is a fun nostalgia trip, but Heavy Hearts are ultimately still trying to differentiate themselves, and I’m not saying that they won’t get there, they just have a ways to go yet.