Hockey Dad - Rebuild Repeat

‘Rebuild Repeat’ instruct Hockey Dad on their fourth album. It’s a bit more complicated than that, though – there’s reconnection, rejuvenation, re-energising to do. The Australian duo manage to do all of that, though, and they do it in a way that feels simultaneously in touch with their roots and remarkably fresh. Though remnants of their earlier work linger in the album, there’s a softness that has been lacking before but is much welcomed.

Opening track ‘Base Camp’ is filled with unceasing hope and produces a chorus that seems tailor-made for festival singalongs – it is a new shade of breeziness for the band, one that is also found on tracks like ‘That’s On You’. The tracks feel lighter, delving with softer tones and acoustics.

The drumbeat that sets ‘Still Have Room’ rolling is a standout moment on the album; giving way to a bass line that captures the bittersweet tone of the lyrics perfectly. Here, Hockey Dad find a balance between the heavier guitars of their past records and the lightness of their first EPs. They impressively toe that line throughout ‘Rebuild Repeat’.

‘Seething’ is a culmination of pent-up anger, a musical pot boiling over to a euphoric build as the percussion kicks in. Their guitar lines, though often lighter, feel more intricate. ‘Road Signs’ is a perfect example of this, and by far the strongest track on ‘Rebuild Repeat’ – the vocals are smoothly taunting, building in power. In rebuilding and reconnecting, they find a shade of forward-facing nostalgia that suits them; it’s an album that plays to their strengths and sees them emerge anew. Hockey Dad have rebuilt and repeated, but also refined.