Single Review: Goliath

Head Like A Hole, arguably one of the greatest and most influential kiwi rock bands of our time. These guys have been around since longer than I’ve been listening to Rock! 1990 was the formation of ‘HLAH’ as we know them. I was a wimpy 7 year old climbing tree’s and riding my mongoose BMX with old mate from over the back fence when these guys were drinking whiskey and writing tunes for their debut 8 track cassette Shitnoise (look up cassette for you guys who don’t know the struggles of us 80’s kids).

Since then, these guys have smashed out killer tune after killer tune year after year, decade after decade. If you don’t believe me, check out This Is Head Like A Hole on Spotify, or better yet, go and purchase an LP here: https://www.headlikeahole.co.nz/store.

Amongst songs you will know, Glory Glory, I’m On Fire, and of course, Hootenanny! These are staples amongst any playlist for any bogan anywhere from Invercargill to Cape Reinga. The reality is .. if you’ve never heard one of these tunes, you legitimately don’t deserve to. 

Goliath – a giant name for a giant new single. The first 15 seconds I wasn’t entirely sure that I had clicked the right link, but by 28 seconds in, bloody hell, distinctly HLAH, and absolutely on the heavier end of their spectrum. I can’t even begin to think how low the guitars are tuned. This absolute cracker of a song takes me straight back to the mid 2000’s standing shoulder to shoulder with several thousand people in a mosh pit at the Powerstation which is EXACTLY where I’d like to be right now watching them belt this tune out instead of sitting in front of a PC listening as the recording has captured the tune with an authentic live feel. If you close your eyes, try and convince me it’s not a live tracked recording in a huge studio letting those drums breath and the guitars wail into the room ambience.

The thing is, you can’t just listen once. You have to play the song back to back multiple times  to absorb its energy, and I guarantee the  hook in the chorus, as simplistic as it sounds, is one of the most effective I’ve heard in a rock tune. 

To sum it up? You need to thrash the hell out of this tune. It’s as easy as that. Big thumbs up from me.