Hygiene

Drug Church

Hygiene is my first experience with Drug Church, the alternative rock and melodic hardcore band from Albany, New York. Just ten seconds into Fun's Over and you know exactly what record you're going to get. That is, a real 'no frills' rock record with loads of driving guitars, crisp, punchy drums, and a ton of angsty spirit. For me though, and I hate to say it, these things are pretty much the bare essentials and the band doesn't really offer much else that really entices me to continue coming back. Hygiene has very little in the way of hooks. There are some brief but cool guitar moments, like the harmonics in the chorus of Fun's Over, the shifting between minor and major tonality on Tiresome, or the nicely chorused, grunge guitar tones on Super Saturated. Even still, these few exceptions aren't exactly novel. The drums are played fairly straight, and the gruff vocals, despite having a ton of passion, are a little stiff melodically. The album rocks, has a lot of heart, and the production sounds good, but overall, the songs on this brief collection are a little too bland and uninspired for me.