Plate Six - Battle Hymns for a New Republic Review
Posted by Matt Clifford on 01.19.2007
Condoleezza Rice, Courtney Cox and now this. Birmingham, Alabama – The city that keeps on giving…
David Hickox – (vocals, guitar)
Darryl Jacks – (guitar)
Brad Davis (drums)
Plate Six formed in the late part of last century while the band members were all still at high school. The present three-piece set up was decided upon after various unsuccessful attempts to persevere with bass players prompting the band to announce “bass players were worthless and it was no advantage to put up with them any longer”.
All hailing from Birmingham, Alabama, Plate Six built up a solid fan base by playing around the towns burgeoning hardcore punk scene. BHFANR is the band's first release on the prestigious independent One Little Indian label. Like their labelmates, the now defunct Hot Snakes, Plate Six play a diverse blend of post-hardcore, post-punk and indie-rock and avoiding skirting the inevitable issue further, yes it does sound like Fugazi…a lot.
Hickox’s vocals amazingly manage to sound like both Ian Mackaye (never more evident than on the prog-rock stylings of ‘As The Pinson Turns’) and Guy Picciotto (the slower but equally aggressive 'Instant Fence') and even the noisy instrumental tracks ‘Hymn Of The Majuscule’ and ‘Hymn To Denounce Time’ demonstrate echoes of the Red Medicine-era. Not that these are bad things you must understand, it’s just for a music snob like me, replicating a band I really love is a very dangerous path to walk down. However, once I had completely removed my head from my own ass and proceeded to actually listen to the album, I was suitably impressed by what I heard.
Short of any instrumental wizardry and breathtaking effects it might be but ‘Battle Hymns..’ is choc full of wonderful chord melodies and some truly poignant song writing. The vocals are constantly brimming with emotion and occasional frantic hostility which both prove successfully to add the songs with another layer of mesmerizing sound.
Certain tracks (‘Red: The New Black’) show a heavily textured, deep wall of noise and a seemingly endless journey of twists and turns that could be traced back to earlier bands like Sonic Youth and Polvo. Others like ‘Concrete Mouth Of Safety’ encapsulate a more modernized sound, combining gentle ambience and frenzied build ups that take the listener to the edge of their seat time after time. ‘Maximalist Anthem’ provides an epic finish to the album, the wonderfully eerie yet melodic feel and seamless switching of softly sung and shouted vocals make it one of the most unpredictable but complete songs on the record.
Plate Six have done well in creating an album that is both diverse and interesting even if it is lacking somewhat in true originality. While I cannot see ‘Battle Hymns’ as being particularly mainstream accessible, it is totally listenable and hopefully people will be willing to sit up and take notice when it is released in April.
The 411: A solid debut offering and an album that is definetely worth hearing. David Hickox's vocals are outstanding and are well backed up throughout by noisy, wandering guitars and some killer drumming which combined give the tracks amazing depth. If there is any justice this album will turn more than a few heads.
