HammersKicking Goals (EP)

Hammers’ newest EP Kicking Goals should pride itself on being able to perfectly balance some serious tunes with some not so serious lyrics and themes and damn they make it work.

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The heavy music scene is undeniably favourable to bands with a trendy image and people taking themselves far too seriously and Hammers low-key taking the piss and giving us some hilarious narratives in their lyrics is a much-needed breath of fresh air.

They said in an interview with Hysteria, “We’ve kind of turned ourselves into some kind of stupid Aussie sitcom,” and using their lyrics as a blurb, you’ll want to watch the hell out of this one. Kicking Goals is a mixed bag of classic rock, early metal and even a sprinkling of metalcore influence with an in-your-face Aussie twang, modernised to suit an array of heavy music fans.

… it’s sick to see a band playing music they love and staying true to the sound they believe in.

Silly Sausage is about a couple of blokes robbing a butcher’s shop and getting thrown in jail. While the beginning of the track is a true-blue Aussie rock song, the band turns it on it’s head in the second half and dishes up a very unexpectedly heavy breakdown. There’s another unexpected surprise with the super high backing vocal contrasting the hell out of the husky lead vocals, and at this point they’re just fishing out the stuff they love from different genres and working it into their own epic sound.

They’ve managed to fit a whole lot of versatility into this EP, from the heavy hitters like Cracker Night and When Kings Collide to the snag in bread level of Aussieness in guilty pleasures, it’s sick to see a band playing music they love and staying true to the sound they believe in.

Although there are some jokey songs and the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously, they’ve also included some heavier themes like war and modern day struggles for power in When Kings Collide. Wrapping up the EP on a much slower note, the stripped-down Last Breath pays homage to lives lived and lost.

Hammers have a lot of layers to them both musically and lyrically. They know exactly what they want to put out there, and they’re unapologetically doing so. They’ve well and truly kicked goals with this one.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Silly Sausage, When Kings Collide, Cracker Night
STICK THIS NEXT TO: The Bronx, Every Time I Die, Alice In Chains