Hockey | Mind Chaos | Good Bands Grow in Portland

Hockey, a new band out of Portland Oregon, home base for M. Ward, Blitzen Trapper other bands that have made a splash over the past 12 months. What Hockey offers to its listeners is an eclectic mix of folk, rock and pop. So much so you may think this album has multiple personality disorder (see track #8). It’s hard to nail down their brand of music, at one point you feel like you are enjoying a long lost Strokes song with Work, while during the next track Song Away, you think you are listening to a Springsteen cover. All of this just adds to the experience of Mind Chaos, the first full length album Hockey has released, due out September 28th. As mentioned before, Hockey has a musical flavor not unlike artists such as Bruce Springsteen, The Strokes and maybe even a little Beck, but that doesn’t mean this album is without its own innovations. For the most part this album takes and infuses a great deal of Funk into the styles of those artists. Some tracks are hit and miss on Mind Chaos, but that is no reason to relegate the band to the crap album bin that seemed to be filling up over the month of August. In fact, this album was a pleasant surprise, filled with well put together pop numbers and heartfelt songs that would fall more into the category of folk rock while others end up being more Beck-centric. And with a name like Hockey you know that this band is in it for a fight. With similar bands floating around Hockey needs to deliver a devastating blow with its release of Mind Chaos. Key Tracks off of the album are, Too Fake, Learn To Lose, Work, Song Away and Preacher.

Track List For Mind Chaos:
1. Too Fake
2. 3am Spanish
3. Learn To Lose
4. Work
5. Song Away
6. Curse This City
7. Wanna Be Black
8. Four Holy Photos
9. Preacher
10. Put The Game Down