Belting out a distinctly bullshit-free iteration of garage rock ‘n’ roll, Forest Hall are the band to jam to when you’re feeling the weight of society bearing down upon your shoulders.
Music has long been a device used to rip oneself out of the pains of reality, away from the stream of transactions, inflammations and obligations we call life. The debut, self-titled EP from Forest Hall carries the torch, preaching the value of a time on earth well spent, ripe with distraction, social interaction and of course, some choice medication.
Leave the grind of modern life in your dust trail with the debut EP from Forest Hall, a holy text for the rockin’ modern slacker.
Forest Hall opens with Triple D, a tribute to frontman Mislav Belobrajdic’s favourite cooking show of all time Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Featuring viciously catchy riff work and radio-filtered baritone vocals straight out of an early-days Dandy Warhols jam, it’s the gateway drug into what will be your newest five-track addiction.
The tongue-in-cheek dialect of the opener is replaced by Forest Hall’s true sentimentality from track two onwards. Easyway struts the same boardwalk as this EP’s lead single Most People’s Lives Are Boring, which sits pretty at track three.
In case you hadn’t realised, most people’s lives are pretty boring. The monotony of modern existence can strike you when you least expect it, and often without you even realising. Forest Hall are keen observers of this phenomenon, and like many more before themselves, they’re shining a light on it through the dynamic medium of garage rock tunes.
Escaping what would be a large and rather unfortunate piece of irony, Forest Hall’s music is anything but boring. They stitch together all the best parts of their influences; the attitude of gutter punk, the brevity of rock ‘n’ roll and the driving nostalgia of grunge.
In true backyard rock fashion, all but one track on Forest Hall sits under three minutes long. That is, until you hit the closer Unlovable. At 4:21, Belobrajdic may have missed a key bit of symbolism by one second, but we’ll excuse him.
The track cops more twists and turns than the Zig Zag Railway, warping between ecstatic micro drum solos and wavering guitar jams, vocals interjecting with spots of grimy wisdom throughout. It’s the closest Forest Hall get to full-on psychedelic rock – I’m afraid to think what kind of brain damage this tune could inflict upon a live audience.
The debut effort from Forest Hall isn’t for the suits and ties; it’s a swan song for the sinful and the lackadaisical souls of the world. Whether or not you count yourselves among this crowd, you can’t resist the temptation of an eternal Sunday, and that’s exactly what this EP is. Purified, irresistible leisure.
Catch Forest Hall launching their EP on May 18 at Marlborough Hotel, Sydney. Shit’s free. Grab all the finer details on the Facebook event.
Forest Hall will be available May 16.