Back on November 17th, 2022, I ventured north to Cleveland once again. This time to witness Hammered Hulls play one of the best sets that I've ever seen a band play. They already put out one of my favorite records of the year and the proof of their greatness is in the pudding of their live show.
The pedigree of this band is no joke. It's Alec MacKaye on vocals, Mark Cisneros on guitar, Chris Wilson on drums and Mary Timony on bass. Unfortunately, Mary Timony couldn't make it on tour so Brendan Canty (i.e. the drummer from Fugazi) was sitting in on bass. As much as I wanted to cross off seeing Mary Timony play from my list of things to do I was willing to settle for seeing Brendan Canty play bass.
Look up any of these musicians to see what other bands they've played in and get ready to pick your jaw up from the floor. Faith, Helium and Medications to name but a few. They are Washington, D.C. heavyweights that take up a lot of space in my record collection with their various bands.
Hammered Hulls released a three song EP in August of 2019 that I listened to repeatedly. I hated that record based solely on the fact that it only had three songs. I would angrily watch it spin after side B had ended wishing that there were ten more songs.
In late October, those songs finally landed on my porch when their LP, Careening, was released. I made the mistake of putting the record on for background noise while I was trying to get some writing done. The computer ended up closed and put aside while I sat on the floor and watched the speakers fill the air with one of the most stunning records that I've ever dropped a needle onto. I have been trying to think of a song that's nearly as good as “Written Word” but am having a difficult time finding one.
Hammered Hulls started recording Careening in early 2020 and suffered a pandemic sized delay in being able to reconvene to finish the album. The album also carries the distinction of being one of the last records recorded at Inner Ear Studios before the block the studio was located on was set to be demolished as part of a new art/industry redevelopment plan in Arlington, VA.
I ended up missing Ian MacKaye's new band, Coriky, when they played at a library in Harrisburg in February of 2020 so there was no way I wasn't going to be at the Grog Shop to see Hammered Hulls.
The opening bands, Autopolitan and The Missed, were worth the trip alone. I made sure to pick up whatever records The Missed had at the merch table and, from what I could figure out, Autopolitan is a relatively new band so they didn't have any merch but their demo is streaming on Bandcamp.
The sad thing was that not too many people showed up and I couldn't believe it. The Grog Shop should have been packed to the rafters. When I catch wind of Punk Rock royalty coming anywhere near me, I start plotting and planning to be in the room. I know the show was on a cold Thursday night but I don't think there were even a hundred people in attendance.
Taking pictures was an uphill battle because of the lighting. There were two lights across the front of the stage that were out so faces were grainy or nonexistent and using the flash was out of the question. I did manage to get twenty pictures of Hammered Hulls that didn't make me wince too much.
I did have to remind myself from time to time to actually take pictures during their set. They were so good that I was getting distracted from the task at hand. I eventually gave up and stood stage right to watch their set unfold. There are some times that I just want to watch a band play and to hell with taking pictures. This was one of those times.
After the show, the band hung out at the merch table and I was able to fanboy out for a minute. I bought another copy of the record and had everybody sign it. I figure the chances of me being in the same room again as the drummer in Fugazi and the singer in the Faith were slim and none so going full record nerd was unavoidable. Everyone in the band politely suffered my queries and I even got a laugh out of Brendan Canty before I made my way back to the turnpike.
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