Hailmary - Lottery of Life (Album)
Often I lament the fact that an artist’s success depends as much upon luck, timing, advertising and who they know in the music industry, as it does upon actual talent. For if all that mattered was the sound a band made, I wouldn’t be introducing Hailmary here; most people would have heard of them by now. However, life being what it is, welcome to Hailmary’s new debut, Lottery of Life; the first grunge/rock work I’ve ever seen to equal the master bands Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and Nirvana in their heydays.
Hailmary are a 4-piece band hailing (ahhh, see what I did there!) from Perth. They have been touring around the Perth circuit since 2006, winning awards such as the WAMI Song of the Year in Hard Rock/Metal. Lottery of Life is the band’s first release, and as an EP features 5 songs, with a run-time of 22 minutes.
Hailmary on the Internets seem to be described as heavy rock/metal, but really, they’re not. They’re grunge rock, pure and simple, and damn good grunge rock it is. The band list as their influences Alice in Chains and Soundgarden amongst others, and it is in this vein that they fit best. Singer Kevin has a raw-edge brooding style that would do Eddie Vedder proud, and the guitars are fat, heavy, and dirty with distortion, in the best possible way. The lyrics are crafted well to fit into the heavy rhythms and beats of the songs. The only problem I found with the EP was that after a while, the 5 songs seem to blend a little into each other and sound the same; a touch more variation between the songs would have been good. However, since I loved what I was hearing, this doesn’t really tend to bother me too much; make up your own minds!
The best song on the album in my opinion is the second track (as it frequently seems to be!), You’re Not Invincible. It has nice racy verses, a couple of nice big drum-driven bridges, patches of high-melody, and a nice slower chorus. It also has some great lyrics, although I admit the chorus could be a touch more meaningful. Too Many Times is also moving as a slow ballad-style song.
A fantastic little package that, had it been released 17 years earlier, would no doubt have launched Hailmary straight into the limelight with Pearl Jam and Nirvana, for better of for worse. As it is, if you ever loved the grunge and have been hoping for a rebirth, pick this baby up and spread it around; I know I will be.
