The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Music Review: Hammer No More the Fingers

Hammer hits hard with new ‘Black Shark’

Many of Hammer No More the Fingers’ songs on Black Shark start the same way.

First comes Joe Hall’s nimble riff, the sonic equivalent of a whisper building into a shout. The picking accelerates, and your pulse follows.

Then the drums and bass kick in, and for a minute there, you forget that this isn’t a band you grew up on. This isn’t the band that you listened to every weekend on aimless drives, leaning out the window in that liminal stage between youth and adulthood. This isn’t a band you’ve always loved — it just feels that way.

Black Shark is effortless in that respect. Duncan Webster, Joe Hall and Jeff Stickley build the tracks that comprise the record from the ground up, and it’s a formula that proves unfailingly sturdy. Tracks swell steadily, the band members trade harmonies and Webster pipes up with trenchant observations on life as a 20-something.

In that regard, the songs are remarkably similar. There’s little divergence here in terms of structure, but that’s hardly a reason to complain, especially when that very architecture feels so inexplicably right. There’s something natural about these tracks, built on electric guitars and angst. Where bands of similar ilk might grow redundant, Black Shark is just a cohesive, well-oiled machine that’s just doing what it knows.

Lyrically, the album strikes an ideal balance between philosophy and candidness. From the obsessively repeatable turns of phrase in songs like “The Agency” — “You take care of yourself, I’ll take care of the agency” — to moments where it feels like Webster is some kind of sidewalk poet, the end result falls somewhere between the Descendents and the Mountain Goats.

It’s artistry masked as simplicity, a facade that’s only apparent after you’ve stopped singing along unknowingly. There’s density and dexterity here, but it’s easy to miss on a record that’s so instantly catchy.

But truthfully, the album’s biggest merit is closely linked to its title. Like the titular animal that graces its cover, _Black Shark _goes for the jugular, a barrage of relentless hooks and breakdowns that still retain their vibrance after multiple listens.

You have to press repeat on tracks like “It’s About Caring,” as Webster sings, “It’s 2:08 and our fate is decided by a child lock” amid a building wall of reverberating chords. It’s rare that a band can unify the visceral with the intellectual, but Hammer makes it look easy, as authoritative and aggressive as an underwater predator.

These aren’t just songs — they’re specific moments in time, captured like a bug in an orb of amber. Hammer doesn’t just make us privy to these memories; we’re transported there, eager passengers in the child-locked car hurtling down the highway.

Contact the Diversions Editor at diversions@dailytarheel.com.

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.

Special Print Edition
The Daily Tar Heel's Collaborative Mental Health Edition