Thursday 2 July 2020

Hevrat Ha'Hashmal (The Electric Company) - Demo



Labels: Self-Released

Formats: Digital

Release Date: 30 May 2020


1. Conveying Goods

2. Mercury In Retrograde

3. We're Here To Work

4. Hardware Wars


When I wrote my Primitive Teeth review earlier in the month I mentioned that I'd been contacted by another post-punk band, going by the name of Hevrat Ha'Hashmal. The band is a three-piece and is from Tel-Aviv in Israel. This is a first for the blog, because I think this is the first release I've reviewed that's entirely sung in Hebrew (and also probably the first music by a band from Israel too!). Hevrat Ha'Hashmal translates to The Electric Company in English. 


I wonder if this will change my feelings towards post-punk. The first thing that’s apparent with demo opener ‘Conveying Goods’ is that it’s filled with garage-punk and industrial influences as much as it is post-punk. Hevrat Ha’Hashmal creates an austere atmosphere with repeating sections and harsh yet audible vocals. 


Much like other punk demos, this one isn’t long. ‘Mercury In Retrograde’ is the only song that breaches two-minutes and it’s an odd mix of gloomy and upbeat. That’s what’s always struck me about bands that take influence from post-punk. They always seem to come across as a tad depressing and given that I listen to a lot of doom, sludge and depressive black metal, you’d think I’d be used to that!


‘We’re Here To Work’ uses gang vocal-like passages and more of the trio’s signature repetitive riffs to create a quite hypnotic song that gets stuck in your head really quickly. It’s super enjoyable and as the volume and the vocals rise towards the end, it gets pretty exhilarating.


Hevrat Ha’Hashmal close out the demo with ‘Hardware Wars’ , which is over in a flash. It sums up the trio’s sound, which is somewhere between garage-punk and post-punk. It’s very enjoyable despite it’s short length and like the Primitive Teeth record I reviewed recently, it’s not as easily pigeonholed as I make it out to be. It’s a very good release, which is a step away from norm.


You can stream and download the demo for name-your-price below:-


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