Cinematic Superthug

CD Cover The Hunger
Universal

Review by Dorothy Parvaz



"Houston's The Hunger have become the zen of melody-driven industrial rock...," reads the band's bio. Hah!

What's this stuff they're calling "industrial"? The only way you could get the word "industrial" to apply to the Hunger's latest, Cinematic Superthug (What an unfortunately Tarantino-esque title. Blech.), would be to say that the album sounds like "slick, industrial-strength doody."

Alright, alright -- it's not that bad, but trying to find the good parts on the damn thing will test your patience (i.e., it's a long wait for that cool bit of drumming on "Going Down," the last track on the album). On first listen, the disc seems a whole lot worse than it really is. This is not to say that it will grow on you once you listen to it a few times; rather, you just won't scowl in the direction of your CD player for a few seconds before yanking the disc out after only a couple of songs. Eventually you realize some of the band's harmonies are okay, and every now and then, you'll hear a guitar hook that really works (like in "Ray," for example).

If you sort of missed the boat on the whole late '80s alternative/grunge/industrial thing, you might get a kick out of the Hunger. No thrills, just a kick. They could sound like watered-down versions of any of the dozen-or-so bands their bio mentions (I can just see the guy who wrote this one: Leave no stone unturned! Mention everyone! Someone will see a similarity somewhere.) -- then again, they could just sound like a keyboard-rock band in the late '90s, with cool hair (not including the dood with the shaved head) and so-so songs.

A heavier thrash sound or a lighter pop sound -- either way, the Hunger would sound a whole lot better if they'd just pick a sound and commit to it.




First published in Drop-D Magazine on May 18, 1998

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