hookworms: s/t

Expanded reissue of Hookworms' 2011 debut, first released as a limited cassette, reissued on vinyl, and now available on CD for the first time. This edition follows the band's acclaimed albums Pearl Mystic (Gringo Records, 2013) and The Hum (Domino sublabel Weird World Record Co., 2014). Hookworms documents the Leeds five-piece's starting point while proving that they've never wavered in their undeniable character, even as everything around them has changed. "It was a very exciting time for us," bassist MB recalls. "MJ having his first studio meant we'd gone from practicing in a tiny basement and receiving noise complaints to having a place where we could do what we wanted. We played with Sun Araw just as we were finishing the EP and Cameron Stallones enjoyed our set and asked to hear any recordings -- then subsequently released it on cassette." Hookworms have since evolved into a mighty beast, able to fill cavernous warehouses with a vitriolic form of kosmische (as they did when they headlined the Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia, and when they supported fuzzy legends Slowdive during their 2014 comeback). Hookworms showcases many of the traits for which the band has become known -- the strutting bass and four-note repetition of "Teen Dreams" is pure Modern Lovers, mining the group's '60s garage and proto-punk influences and mixing them with a caustic modernity. Another highlight is the rolling bass thunder of "I Have Some Business Out West," which crackles with the energy of an approaching storm. "Our gear wasn't as good back then so we did quite a bit of re-amping and post-production," MB comments. "The EP was basically a playground for experimentation with a bunch of new guitar pedals we'd recently acquired." This edition also presents rare early recordings, including the initial drone-heavy version of "Form and Function," which would appear on a split 7" alongside Nottingham-based peers Kogumaza, plus the swaggering rumbles of "The Correspondent," which appeared on Sonic Cathedral's 2013 Psych For Sore Eyes compilation. The former is a premonition of phase two of the band, foreshadowing the heavier, dense sound of Pearl Mystic, while the latter is a wonderful outlier -- which says something for a band whose boundaries have forever stretched toward the horizon.