Hansel-Mission to rock

Pussycat
2008

The first thing I noticed about Australia's Hansel was their look. It appears that they purchased part of their wardrobe at Spinal Tap's yard sale and then stole some clothing from Marc Storace's closet and then they were set. It's not about the clothes though, it's about the music. This four track EP definitely follows a sound from the past. This kind of radio friendly, arena rock was done many times over before 1990 even rolled around. However they have definite appeal just due to strong melodies, good production values and the steady way in which they constantly keep the ball rolling. The bio on the band and their look gave me the impression that they had a good sense of humor. The lyrics are pure cheese, but more cliched than actually funny. The music is generally tight and they hit on some good solos as well. I kept hoping for them to step it up and trade in some melodies for some harder hitting riffs. They stay firmly on the hard rock side of the fence on all four songs and I can hear some Van Halen and 80's KISS in their sound. That's fine except they stray into Bon Jovi territory more often than I wish they had on a few occasions. It's decent overall even though it's not very original. I like the songs for the most part, but really hope they take more chances and move beyond just playing it so safe. There is part of me that would certainly be interested to see what this band could do on a full length album.


www.myspace.com/hanselmusic