A couple of years ago, I wrote a review of Hammock’s “Chasing After Shadows…Living With The Ghosts”. I didn’t like it. I remember saying that it sounded as if they didn’t care about the music. I made snarky comments and passed Hammock off. I’m guilty, as many reviewers are, of becoming callous and forgetting that even disliking something doesn’t make it all right to be a jerk. I am hardly a jerk. So I decided to listen to this latest release, with the intent to discover if the band did, in fact, care about their music. I am impressed. Clearly the emotion behind this record is there. It’s haunting, desperate and emotive without being syrupy. This is what I wanted the other record to be. The thing is, it isn’t groundbreaking but it IS good. The songs are lush without being indulgent. The sound shows maturity and focus. The track, “Verse for Forgiveness,” is grand.
