According to their bio, Hockey plays fun music. They are right. I wouldn’t be surprised if the album Mind Chaos is playing in the background of walk-around-with-red-wine-in-a-red-Solo-cup, smoke-cigarettes-on-balconies, wear-tight-pants-and-low-v-cut-American-Apparel-tees hipster parties.
Ben Grubin’s vocals are similar to Julian Casablancas’ from The Strokes, except Grubin incorporates more of a disco feel. In fact, I would consider this album disco-pop (if that is a genre) with an ‘80s twist, a lot like MGMT and Vampire Weekend. It is hard to believe that there is any guitar and bass in this group, as everything sounds like a synthesizer. Mind Chaos, regardless of instrumental confusion, is something to dance to. Ten of the 11 songs on the album have vocals syncopated over the arrangement’s rhythm that creates an awkward beauty. The beginning of the sixth track, “Curse This City,” caught me off guard by being a little calmer than the other tracks, but by no means is this track slow or boring. The vocals begin to sound more personal as the album progresses yet the tracks remain upbeat and electronic and grooving is still a must when listening.
“Curse This City” sets a tone for the last five songs. Mind Chaos closes out with the typical slow, romantic ballad, and this is probably the first time the instruments are clearly guitar, bass, and drums. Overall, Mind Chaos is a good, varied album that would be good as background music at a party or just to throw on when you want to dance embarrassingly around your room by yourself.
In A Word: Dancey
