Hockey: Mind Chaos

Hockey’s CD, Mind Chaos, is probably the first one I’ve purchased based on seeing a group as an opening act.  Hockey opened for the Kaiser Chiefs at the Music Box at the Fonda on Veterans’ Day, November 11, 2008.  We enjoyed their performance.  They have a fast and funky sound with lyrics sung quickly and sometimes spoken.  The lead singer energetically moved around the stage.  He didn’t play any instruments except for occasionally helping out on drums.  Their rhythmic sound and poetic lyrics stuck in my head, especially their song “Work”.  Afterward I enjoyed listening to their songs on their MySpace page and from there followed a link CD Baby where I could order their album.

CD Baby were very kind about fulfilling my order.  Their confirmation e-mail had the from line: “CD Baby Loves David”.  A subsequent e-mail described how their “packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.”  They said they had a celebration afterwards and “the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to (my) package, on its way to (me), in (their) private CD Baby jet.”  My CD did arrive fairly quickly.  I noticed that CD Baby is based in Portland, OR, just like Hockey.

The CD starts with a bang.  “Too Fake” has a quick rhythm and an explosive chorus.  Like most songs on the CD, the lyrics are poetic and profound (in my opinion): “Look out, cause I’m just too fake for the world.”  The main beat of the rhythm sounds electronic.  The song seems to be dissing fame.  The next song, “3 AM Spanish”, is just as fast, but more vocal and uneven, though that suits its style.  The vocals are fast and sound like rap in some parts.  There are more profound lyrics: “I made the money but the money made me.”  It seems to be telling a story about going out, meeting someone, getting rejected, in Spain?  Whatever it’s about it sounds fun.

They slow down just a bit for the next song, “Curse this City”.  It seems to be a reaction to a bad big-city experience.  There’s more profundity:  “Before it even knew me, it forgot me!”  The city in question seems to be New York since they mention “From the Hudson to the Rhine” and they “Manhattan Skybridge”.  The sound is hard, almost bluesy, but at the end the sound softens and it sounds almost like a fast folk song or even a spiritual.  It’s a little more positive: “I’m gonna love this city if it only helps me shine.”  The next song is also not as fast as the first two and has a prominent funky beat.  It’s the song I find most relatable: “Work”.  The chorus goes “Work work work, too much work for me”.  The repeating of the word “work” three times makes the work seem even harder.  Well, it is more work to say it three times.  Now that’s how many times we say it when we have too much work work work.

If “Work” is a gripe song, the next one seems to say, “don’t worry about it because tomorrow’s just a ‘Song Away’.”  The vocals say early on “I can’t get too full of myself, I can’t afford to be.”  There are more profound questions: “What has your man done to the world?  What has the world done to your man?”  The song has a fast but easygoing rhythm with a strong drum beat replaced by clapping towards the end.  There’s also a playful keyboard sound.  The lyrics area also playful: “I stole my personality from an anonymous source.”  In my opinion, “Work” and “Song Away” tie for the best songs on the album.  The first five tracks are all very good with their medium to fast rhythms.  I remember they performed all of them in their opening band set.

The next song, “Preacher”, initially seems slower but quickly speeds up.  It seems to be a light rant about organized religion that references both Islam and Christianity.  It’s another fun song though it lacks the profundity and catchy rhythms of the first five songs.  I don’t remember them performing this one live.  They definitely get slower for the next song, “What’s Up Now, Man?”  I’m not sure what it’s about, possibly a friendship ending.  It’s another song they didn’t perform live.

They remain subdued for the next song, “Mercenary Days”, though the rhythm speeds up a bit.  It has some near-rapping and an interesting chorus line: “I love that you sold me out to your ideas.”  At the end they get very loud and fast with the singing seeming to echo itself.  They reference New York again and only mention the song title once as part of some quick singing.  Again, I don’t remember them performing this song.  Though the last song is the slowest and quietest of them all, I seem to remember them performing it.  “Everyone’s the Same Age” is a reflective lament about aging?  I’m not sure.  It has some interesting, if not profound, statements: “I only feel three times a year” and “I want to play in the NBA.”

Mind Chaos is short and sweet without any extras or bonus tracks.  It doesn’t need any.  It’s worth it for the first five songs alone, though the others reveal a quieter, more reflective side.  When we saw them live it seemed like all their songs were loud and fast.  They performed some songs that weren’t on the album such as “Matthew McConaughey” and “I Want to be Black”.  They have a varied, chaotic, but still very catchy sound.  I’m surprised they’re not more widely known.  Maybe people think they’re “Too Fake” or they don’t want to be reminded of “Work work work, too much work for me.”  Perhaps New Yorkers were offended that they “Curse this City” or Latinos slept through “3 AM Spanish.”  Or maybe it’s just that they don’t want to get too full of themselves because they can’t afford to be.  Whatever the case, I enjoy this old form, new form, small town, big town music.  I’m hoping they’ll love Azusa because it makes them shine, at least this resident.