The New What Next (Epitaph) (7.1 out of 10)

I’ve dabbled in explaining to you the difficulty encountered when a band attempts to evolve and at times reinvent itself. In the music industry, those two things are single-handedly the most intricate and trickiest feats to accomplish. Hot Water Music has managed to do both, but at what cost? I grew up loving this band and saw their raw, energetic live show numerous times. They never ceased to amaze me with their harmonies both musically and vocally, even though Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard’s vocals were gruff and tough.

Enter their third full-length on Epitaph, The New What Next. Starting off with “Poison,” it seems HWM is back to say they haven’t forgotten the elements of songwriting that made previous releases such as Forever and Counting and No Division such powerhouses. “The End of the Line” and “All Heads Down” continue blending what the first track set out to do; that is to say, this album exemplifies what happens when a band that has been around for nearly a decade experiences growth. Previous HWM songs were sure to offer unabated energy, powerful beats and chord progressions, complimented by Ragan and Wollard’s aggressive signature vocals. Yet the new HWM presents a polished album, chock-full of layered guitars, beautiful harmonies, and intricate vocals.

Personally, I think the dirtiness and grittiness of HWM’s legacy are what made them so unique. The New What Next is good—it isn’t their best album—yet there’s just something about the overproduction of the album that bothers me. This could just be the lamenting graduate student writing here, because after all, this album sounds great, and the band never sounded so tight and comfortable. Towards the middle the album wanes, though, simply because the tenacity is gone. The lyrics are both trite and brilliant. In “There Are Already Roses,” Ragan unintelligibly sings, “”How do you return from a weekend like this? This is a fucked up holiday. I’m feeling confused, I’m feeling, not mislead…but like I’m just a fool.” Lyrically this sounds like a livejournal, but then Ragan redeems himself with the chorus, “And if you say it now, there are already roses on our grave.” With a line like that, it sounds as if Ragan is the next dark ee cummings.

“The New What Next” is HWM’s attempt to show the world their ready to be taken seriously on all levels. They’re not just an inimitable hardcore band with melodic tendencies – they are a polished tour de force, touring some 250 days out of the year for the better part of a decade. My advice to you is to pick up their previous albums mentioned above first, and if you like them, embrace HWM as a whole.