Self-titled debuts are always powerful. To start a project, a career, and a new artistic era with your name (or your band’s name) stamped on everything just shows that you aren’t here to play. You believe in the music strongly, which usually means that the listeners will, too. For a brand new, local example, look no further than Hurt Feelings. Sean Patrick and Matt Calchera’s six-track collaborative endeavor is akin to the first Foo Fighters record – another self-titled debut that is ambitious in its homegrown nature with professional and adventurous sound from start to finish, and is filled with a kind of talent that cannot be taught and an amount of skill that you can’t imagine the music industry looking past. Ultimately, music lovers of all kind should be investing in the honest rock artistry of Hurt Feelings, but we’ll outline why.
“Every Time Every Night” kicks off this EP (which dropped on February 9). For the shortest track on the record, it packs a welcome punch – setting the tone in a punk-y,drum-driven, impassioned way. Skipping ahead to “For The Crown,” the third number on Hurt Feelings, a somehow even more vivacious energy takes over. This is a duo hitting their stride here and not at all ‘filling out a track list for an album.’ Everything on the release is concise and rip-roaring, but this song is special; as much as it keeps the flow of the six songs at hand, it also stops you dead in your tracks. If we were to pick a song to get a single release and live a life of its own, this one would be it… and it was! The band themselves could tell that “For The Crown” encapsulated everything the pair were setting out to do, and it is an easy contender for one of our favorite single drops of the year. (Yes, we feel confident saying that in only February.) A punchy three-minute song that keeps your attention and sets the tone for all of what the Hurt Feelings entity is? Sign us all up.
Another song that we think will make a mark on every listener and new fan is “Right Through You.” The quintessential indie rock ballad, but with a magnetic twist that would make the likes of The Gin Blossoms and Green Day proud, this track has guitar riffs that are worth celebrating. Sometimes those simple, but effective instrumental moments say it all. On “Right Through You,” that is exactly what happens. This is not to say there is any nostalgia laced into the work of Hurt Feelings, but we do wish MySpace was still around so we could see (and hear) this particular song highlighted on people’s profiles as soon as you clicked on.
This debut is not explicitly alternative rock, garage rock, or even emo or pop punk. Patrick and Calchera have a range of influences; we know this to be true simply from the cover-to-cover listen of Hurt Feelings. Since its release, we have spun these songs quite a few times, and each listen has us gravitating to something new. Whether it be the angsty build of an introduction on “Sink or Swim” or the more pensive, acoustic twinkling of album closer “Been A Long Time,” there is an attention-grabbing moment on every single listen. For a debut, that’s impressive. For there to be not one ‘skippable’ track on the six just released? Well, we could repeat ourselves and tell you how impressive and memorable that is, but instead we’ll say this: Just rip the bandage off and listen to it yourself, why don’t you? Hurt Feelings is available everywhere you listen to music.
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