Hitchcocks Regret - Regretfulness

  by Anthony Dhanendran

published: 25 / 10 / 2002

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The lead singer of Hitchcock’s Regret sounds like Sting. That was the first thing that sprung to mind when first I put this album on. Like their Laughing outlaw labelmates Golden Rough (also reviewed in this issue), HR are an Australian four-piece, with an ear for a sharp melody and a gentle aura. There are some nice lyrical conceits here, as on ‘Jerry’, one of many songs on the album dealing with regret, which closes with "As Jerry fell asleep last night/he fumbled for resolve/If only I weren’t so old." So wistful regret is a common theme here, from the musings of old men to familiar themes of lost love, small town life and old memories. The band’s name comes from a story about Alfred (rather than former Chelsea goalkeeper Kevin, as I’d hoped) Hitchcock, who said his greatest regret was signing a contract in his youth agreeing never to make a particular film he’d always dreamt of directing. He kept his promise, and died regretting his mistake. The story has informed both the lyrics and music here, and it works to a certain degree. It is difficult to take an entire album of wistful yearning, though, even when it is as well made as this. For a debut album it’s remarkably well produced, and the band sound like old hands, like the old man at the end of the bar who’s regretting his life away with a little help from the drink. But without any stand out moments the album tends to coast along on its own, and it’s easy to drift in and out, to find you’re a couple of songs ahead of where you thought you were. Singer Mark Moldre’s vocals and the keen musicianship keep the listener carrying on. If you could pick and choose the first two tracks, ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Jerry’ as well as ‘Small Town’, that would be enough to be going on with, as a trio of very good tracks, but packed out to nearly an hour, there’s perhaps not enough substance to carry the project through.

Track Listing:-

1 Amnesia
2 Jerry
3 (You're Not) The Only One
4 Regretfulness Pt.1
5 Head In The Clouds
6 Small Town
7 The World Didn't Care
8 I Don't Love You Anymore
9 Gregory Street
10 Love Is Simple
11 Reprise
12 Regretfulness Pt.2 (A Haunting Conversation)
13 Looking At Myself
14 Things Can Go So Wrong
15 In From The Woods

Label Links:-

http://www.laughingoutlaw.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/laughingoutlawrecordsandmanagement
https://laughingoutlaw.bandcamp.com/

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