Review of 17th Street by Hammers of Misfortune

1. 317

2. 17^th Street

3. The Grain

4. Staring (The 31^st Floor)

5. The Day the City Died

6. Romance Valley

7. Summer Tears

8. Grey Wednesday

9. Going Somewhere

After going through a line-up change, the San Francisco, CA based Hammers of Misfortune return with their new album 17^th Street. As said by guitarist John Cobbett, they tried to bring emotion into this album by giving each song its own personality. He also admitted that he changed his style because Leila Abdul-Ruf, their new guitarist and vocalist, brought back his love for electric guitar. Also Joe Hutton, the new vocalist, also changed Cobbett’s style because as the guitarist said himself, “how could you not write for a voice like that.

If you asked me if I thought the psychedelic scene was a thing of the past, I would have definitely said yes. Hammers of Misfortune has proved me wrong with their album 17^th Street. It really brings back those good old bands like Pink Floyd, yet adding in a mix of metal. They bring technical riffs in as well as just mellow stuff, which is what makes psychedelic music amazing. The organ and piano work is part of the reason I enjoyed this album, along with the guitar it sounded very gruelling. The three main songs I liked the most were the self entitled song 17^th Street, Staring (The 31^st Floor), and The Day the City Died. Each song has its own meaning and some songs are cheery, while others are dark but its great to showcase both sides. This album is very different to what I’m used to, but in a good way. It is nice to see a band bringing back the psychedelic feel to music and especially in the form of metal.