Now Hear This
From HAWXX to Dirty Talons: Ren Aldridge on new bands you need to hear
Petrol Girls vocalist Ren Aldridge brings you the best in new music, including HAWXX, Dirty Talons and Okay, Bye…
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Album review: HAWXX – THE WORLD SPLITS OPEN
Incredible second full-length from London trio HAWXX dissects all that’s wrong with the world with this set of powerfully political songs
- Words:
It’s baffling to think there are some people who still don’t understand that Rage Against The Machine were a political band. You would, however, think and hope that nobody would or could be deluded about the intentions London’s HAWXX (like the bird of prey but with the double XX female chromosome, in case you were wondering).
The World Splits Open is the second full-length by the self-proclaimed “feral coven of queer feminist punk metal” trio. That’s an accurate description. These songs all flit between and combine those two genres to chaotically powerful effect, beginning with a song called Resistance Is Justified. If that title doesn’t give the band’s motivations away, then almost-immediate chant of “Free, free Palestine!” should. It's a song written about the Filton 24 (now the Filton 25), a group of activists who were imprisoned for some 18 months for allegedly destroying weapons that were built to be sent to Israel, one of whom is friends with the band.
The nine songs that follow are no less subtle or targetted. Macro Bullshit takes arms against the patriarchy, while We Are Nature protests the many corporations who are actively destroying the planet for profit. Elsewhere, Arm The Animals takes aim against those who hunt for pleasure, Sacred Water is a direct attack on Thames Water for polluting waterways with no disregard for those who need them to survive, and Me Her And All The Birds is a quasi-spiritual ode to queer love. Indeed, beyond the punk-metal crossover, there’s often a strong sense of otherworldly spirituality flowing through these songs.
It’s this third dimension that really elevates The World Splits Open. It’s one of the fiercest yet also most tender records you’ll hear all year, full of fire and rage, but also brimming with empathy and compassion. It’s a record born of this terrible world, but one that simultaneously provides a sense of hope about its future. As such, its brilliance, importance and relevance cannot be understated.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: Petrol Girls, Maruja, Svalbard
Everything I Ever Saw is self-released and out now.
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