Customer Reviews

Hello Stranger

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Hello Stranger is a great collection of songs that show what great indie rock is coming out in Australia. Sticking pretty closely to what could be described as the "Candle Records" sound, Darren Hanlon has recorded a set of songs that nicely capture moments (Last Night of Not Knowing You) or characters (The Kickstand Song). The songs are humourous in a goodnatured way, and the tunes are catchy without being too unusual. If this make it sound a little safe, it's not. Varying from the jolly punning of "Punk's not dead"("Punk's not dead, she's just gone to bed) to the comforting "He Misses You To, You Know" this is heartfelt, funny, and melancholy, often all three at once.

Some people find this a little too "cute", but if you are a fan of The Lucksmiths or The Simpletons, then I reckon you would get a kick out of Darren Hanlon.

This is such a great album. Folky rock with a very good sense of humor. Australian Hanlon formerly of the Simpletons is a great listen. My favorite song is Operator...Get Me Sweden about a long distance love affair, where he is trying to connect to his love with the help of an operator, and hope his loves stays preserved like the Vasa (a sunken ship and superbly presered ship in Sweden), and Punk Rock Girl will be a new anthem for any punk rock girls you know. You can't go wrong with Darren Hanlon.

I really loved this album. If you liked all the early Belle and Sebastian, or like the quirkiness of They Might Be Giants then this should be sitting right next to them on the shelf.

However, if you don't like enjoying your music, go listen to some math rock and stop whinging about music being pretty, humourous, fun and/or beautiful.