Onlooker and the post punk gut punch of "Hard Work"

 

"you better work hard is what they tell you if you wanna be anything or anyone..."

Who knows why a particular song and even more a particular artist's sound sticks to your head and gut? I think more often than not it is a myriad of things, not one thing in particular but rather all these elements working in concert that makes your head spin in different degrees of awe. This is the case with the track "Hard Work" by Onlooker based out of Teesside, an area near the River Tees in the north of England. There is so much to like and while there are a lot of nuanced things happening here, the track does not start off subtly, You are immediately introduced to a jamming, muscular, urgent sound with lead vox that have an extremely captivating hooky quality. I would not even know how to describe it but it does snarl, does have a blend of punchy disdain for others, a raucous rebellious tone that I really like. Around the words the vox, you have an exquisite guitar sound, ever pushing piling on drums, dominant anchoring bass and absolutely exquisite dips into layered double guitar sounds. When "the" musical break happens with the bass and drums tied together sort of opposing amazing distorted guitar lines I felt this gleeful feeling in my gut- and in some ways it felt like an absolutely artful amalgam of artists like Blur, Thin Lizzy, Sonic Youth and Gang of Four. All artists, by the way that have an amazing emotionally stirring sound that casts hard images in your head, just like Onlooker.

"Hard Work" is the second single in a run of 5 to support an album release coming out via Serial Bowl Records on Vinyl at the end of the year. As the band notes the song is about "the daily northern grind, and the suppression of the working class".

-Robb Donker Curtius





THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://www.facebook.com/onlookertheband

https://onlookertheband.bandcamp.com/


Onlooker have developed a garage type sound utilizing everything at their disposal in a short, sharp format. Angry songs in a major key.

The 2nd single in a run of 5 to support an album release coming out via Serial Bowl Records on Vinyl at the end of the year.

Onlooker, alternative rock, garage rock, post punk, guitar rock, Teesside, Middlesbrough, UK, "Hard Work", Serial Bowl Records, Vinyl, the Northern Grind, raws, punchy, blue collar rock,