Album review: Hockey Dad – Rebuild Repeat

A cup of coffee and a Sunday sunrise is an absolute necessity when tuning into Hockey Dad’s fourth album, Rebuild Repeat. A smooth mix of indie-pop, rock and post-rock, the band weaves together an easy-listening record that wouldn’t be amiss on a calm morning by oneself.

A relatively simple and stripped-back affair, there are few bells and whistles to be found, but it's still a cohesive and polished product that's well-constructed and thought out. No one song feels like it doesn’t belong here. Rhythmic bass and sparkling guitars convey the breezy nature of Base Camp, Still Have Room features a melodic bridge after a gorgeous guitar intro, whole Wreck And Ruin taps heavily into the post-rock aspect of their work, pretty flawlessly constructing a swirling outro.

Burning Sand mixes the roots of folk and bluegrass with their alt.rock, whereas That’s On You fully leans into the indie and alt side of their sound, full of twinkling guitars post-chorus. Seething brings something different, with the tuned-down bass thudding away before the song slowly builds and breaks. And with a beat that wouldn’t be amiss in a jazz club, Backup Plan tackles the idea of being a smaller band that needs to work more than one job to support themselves.

What all this shows is that Hockey Dad are intelligent in the way in which they craft melodies. They grasp the idea of easy listening and the feeling of a warm, relaxing, lazy day quite brilliantly as they explore the less intense side of alt.rock. A rather glorious display of control, Hockey Dad don’t miss with Rebuild Repeat.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Pacific Avenue, Skeggs, The Terrys

Rebuild Repeat is out now via Farmer & The Owl