Hammer down

Press, 19 February 1987, Page 18

Hammer down

Hammerack “Herd Rock Fever” (Independent label). . Nelwn is acted mere for its san Hum any earplus of hard roek “a" roll, but that has not diminished the enthusiasm of the resident members of Hammerack.

This musically muscular quartet has put together a collection of eight original songs played with deUghtful abandon.

The guitarist, Jamie Dickson, and his cohorts reportedly made a Jour-' ney across Cook Strait by ferry to record “Hard Rock Fever” in a nofrills session at Wellington’s Frontier Studios. Hammerack have drawn on such influences as the Scorpions, Led Zeppelin and Van Halen to produce a heavy style underlined by the growling vocals of Shaun Jordan.

“Let Yourself Go,” Is an ideal opener, its staccato power chords creating a snappy, uptempo feel. “Bad Deal” and “Out of Control” follow, the former a powerhouse stomp sung with gut-

wrraehlag cMvfetfou, the latter a faat-mevlag piece with aa lateriade that pravMea DlcksM with a ahawcaae far Ms wadaubted talents Highlights af the flip side include “Hard Reck Fever,” samething this band has an Incurable dene ef, “Fly Inta the Night,” a saalful number that seems te be abeut integrity, \ai»d "Dusty Reads,” a sauthen style ballad.

If there to a weakness in “Hard Reck Fever,” it perhaps lies in the lyrics, which at times rely tee much an cliches of the “hot loving, running wild” variety. However, Jordan, Dickson, the bassist, Brandt Leitch, and the drummer, Rick Johnson, can take a bow for this courageous, inspired effort This is Kiwi talent in the raw that deserves wider recognition. “Hard Rock Fever” is available on tape in Christchurch at the Grunt Records-Ace Tshirts outlet in Colombo Street. By ALISTAIR ARMSTRONG