Ballarat lads, Hunting Grounds, have broken free of the shackles attached to their former name, Howl, and after two EPs that bled with loud clashing, punky sounds; they’ve defied expectations and created a melodic, spacy and killer debut album, In Hindsight.
The album makes you want to jump around like a crazy kid on red cordial one moment – then forces you to stop, breath, and take it all in the next. The bone chilling lyrics and provocative emotions evoked by one track is offset by the raw energy and excitement produced by the next.
In fact, while some albums struggle to pull off notably different moods and sounds within one recording, it is a tribute to Hunting Grounds that the incredibly multifaceted In Hindsight manages to flow so well you barely notice yourself becoming more emotionally confused than a tween at a Beiber concert.
Lachlan Morrish’s spine-tingling vocals cut deeper without remorse in every track. In “Flaws” – a track that was nearly cut from the album altogether – bandmate Michael Belsar’s vocals work in tandem with the spacey yet ragged instrumental. Later, the album narrative seems all but lost again with “Clearly See”, a tune about a person slowly losing their mind to a whimsical tune.
Nestled in between the atmospheric sensations created by the likes of “Flaws” and “Clearly See”, are the bigger, harder punk sounds and lyrics of those more familiar with their former moniker. “Kill My Friends” is perhaps the most reflective of their older style, yet it is “Liquid Air” that stands out – by far the loudest song on the album; complete with harrowing screams and vigorous guitars and keys.
Respectable in its delivery, In Hindsight, is deserving of a place in every music collection of the musically obsessed.
– Tara Emily
