Hunters “Dead End”

Hunters have an immediate head start on most bands, as they hail from Helsinki, Finland. We don’t know what they put in Scandinavian water, but they produce more than their fair share of great rock bands. With references being made to Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls and Aerosmith, we knew this was a release we had to check out.

We love an album that opens up with a bit of a swagger and that’s certainly the case with “Dead End”. It’s a song with a glam rock heart but delivered with a sleazy twist. As shown by “Radio”, whilst Hunters’ songs may be hard rocking, they are built around big melodies and choruses.

As you’d expect from a song called “Tribute”, this is a classic rock n roller that is full of name checks and references to greats like Bowie and Lou Reed. Maybe we are just getting caught up in the sentiment of that song, but the next track “Before You” has us thinking of Elvis’ “His Latest Flame”.

The thing we really love about this album is that it is just jam packed with great, pop rock, numbers. Songs like “Young Blood” and “Get Wrecked” are just the sort of numbers that need to be blasted out loud on your stereo. They have a sense of energy and fun that is just missing from so many acts these days. They don’t, however, fall in to the trap of being too one dimensional or ‘throwaway’. “Crackdown” has a more aggressive edge a la The Wildhearts. Then “Shivers” adds a sleazier style which will appeal to fans of The New York Dolls or Hanoi Rocks. It all finishes in appropriately raucous fashion with the party rock sound of “We’re Alright”.

Hunters have delivered a really straightforward, great, rock n roll album, something that doesn’t happen too often. They take their cues from the greats like The Stones, New York Dolls and Hanoi Rocks and you sense that they really do love the music they are making. That may sound obvious, but many bands just seem to create stuff that they think will sell rather than showing the genuine desire and enthusiasm that is evident on these songs. It’s great to see a band committed to keeping the rock n roll flag flying.