Customer Reviews

Lurid Traversal of Route 7

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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i seem to remember this band causing quite a commotion when they first came out. people were split down the middle on this direction that this band were taking hardcore music. probably because this band was not interested in being as fast or as loud or as crazed as many of their peers. Hoover use alot of quiet parts in their songs and interject a moody atmosphere. they don't seem concerned about going fast, in fact, they like things slow and building up in repetitious circles. dubby basslines carry the weight of these songs with the guitar making tasteful and tuneful interjections. the drums are solid and have a great flow. the vocals are a low key croon that keep with the somewhat eerie and tense feeling of paranoia that these songs tend to inspire. very good album that inspired hundreds, millions of trite imposters that had no business putting out records. oh well...cheers to the originators. cheers to Hoover.

This CD unleashes the potential of a bass in the forefront, leading the songs, rather than being in the back for the ride. From the cranking, earpopping, ever changing bass line in Electrolux(song 3) to the melodic, poppy inserts along the way, this album, mixed with intense drums and riveting guitar will leave you senseless for hours to come.

Hoover changed my life basically...set me on a path to play music and think outside the box. my first band was basically a hoover ripoff, with some Drive Like Jehu and Gravity records thrown in. i still get chills listening to this album, from the first bass notes of 'distant' all the way through the amazing climax of 'cuts like drugs.' the 3 bonus songs on the cd are great as well, even if 'private' is one of my least favorite hoover songs. also check out the self titled 'reunion' ep, their split with Lincoln and if you can find it, there is an amazing live recording of a Hoover radio show as well. i highly recommend all of these guys other bands as well, like Crownhate Ruin, Regulator Watts, Abilene, June of 44, The Boom, Radio Flyer, The Sorts, etc...of all the dischord bands, Hoover is my favorite...and after that probably Lungfish.

This is a great album that seems more essential the more you listen.

It's not hardcore at all. I'm not sure there's a single section of any song that sounds one lick in the vein of Minor Threat, Bad Brains and all the DC godfathers.

Who cares.

It might be fair to compare the sound to some of the slower and more instrumental grooves of early Fugazi. But, that's not entirely correct either.

At the risk of being accused of blasphemy, when it comes to dueling guitar textures and grooves, this Hoover album is light years ahead of where Fugazi was at the same time. It's a much more musical version of that approach, more penetrating and catchy.

This is an extremely good guitar groove album, very smart. They really know how to let the sounds breathe. I can't think of any better use of two guitars at the same time in recent memory. Makes Interpol seem really really weak in comparison.

This is absolutely the most original, humane and magnificent piece of work to come out of the so called punk movement. D.C. is known for raising up some incredibly talented and enlightened musicians - but whoa - can anyone say 1+1=743! The synergy of these four musicians - if it's raw intensity could appeal to a popular audience would surely garner the respect of the most critical music afficiandos anywhere! If you want cererbral - it's here, if you want melodic - it's here, if you want honest adn emotional - it's here.

A friend gave me this album to listen to. Im like Hoover what a weird name. It ends up to be one of the best and most original albums I have ever heard. It is on my top 5 of favorite all time albums. Crazy Bass driven music with unbeatable vocals. This album is a must buy. If you like Fugazi you will love Hoover.

This is one of the best cds to come from the early 90's Dischord roster. Hoover have a sound that is similiar to that of Drive Like Jehu, but more atmospheric with a bit of post-rock bands like Slint. Fred Erskine is one of the best bass players ever in my opinion, completely dominating this cd with his ridiculous basslines. Check out his work with The Crownhate Ruin and June Of 44. the song "Electrolux" is like a template for Drive Like Jehu songs like "Do You Compute" and "Luau" and even some At The Drive-In songs like "Quarantined". "Cable" is the standout track of the album building with so much tension that the chorus just explodes before going back to a quiet tension. Hoover is one of the most influential bands from early 90's Dischord along with Jawbox and Nation of Ulysses. Get this.

Do you ever find that your music isn't as emotionaly charged as you wish it would be? Me too. But after buying this release you can't help but yell and scream with 'em. Fantastic Washington DC hardcore , and if you wanna call it emo, it wouldn't be and understatment. Creepy at times, other times it just makes you wanna cry. Songs such as "Cuts like drugs" and "Private" are the best examples of this bands talent (or what it was before the broke up), but don't get me wrong the whole album is great. "Cuts like drugs" is a seven minute masterpeice that starts out with a minimalistic cymbal and builds up to this gut wrenching scream to the point that you just can't help but feel like someone drove a stake into your heart pryed it open and poured all of its contents out before you. And "private", ohhhh God!, if you want emotional.....I'm not going to ruin the whole cd, just buy it. Lyricaly, this is the best of the best, the lyrics are as emotional if not more emotional than the music itself. If you like this, then look into Regulator Watts, the band that came shortly after Hoover and included a few of its members. Another fantastic (understatment) release by Discord. You will not be disappointed.

I picked up this album on a whim just because it had an interesting cover and it was released on Dischord. I was expecting it to be good (very few things released on Dischord aren't) but I didn't know just how good it was going to be! This album will really get your heart racing and your head bopping. Its energetic and intense, kind of reminding me of Rites Of Spring. I also think of Slint when I listen to it. Anyways, at times the band can be really low-key and tender, and at others it is aggressive and rugged, with screaming vocals and rough guitars. Emo? Hardcore? I don't know what to call it. It's just great stuff.