It’s been a long time coming, but Hungry Kids of Hungary‘s debut album, Escapades, has finally hit record stores around the country to rave reviews and even a feature album spot on Triple J. You really don’t get much better than that. So now that we can call this an album with a succession of hype behind it, we have to ask that age old question: does it live up to the hype? The answer is yes… there’s quite honestly not a bad song on the album. But is simply having great music enough to make a great record?
Hungry Kids have left this reviewer debating that very question.
Is this a good record? Yes.
Will it go down as one of the years best? Most definitely.
Are there any tracks on the album you don’t like? Not that I can think of.
Are there any standouts? Sure… but where do I begin?
Why is it hard to choose? Well it’s here we face the problem. This album is full of a wide variety of treats, as the Hungry Kids provide their audience with a unique take on some familiar sounds. There’s a bit of Spoon in there (“Closer Apart”), there’s the doo-wop flavour of the 40s/50s felt in the effortlessly catchy “Let You Down” and brilliant opener “Coming Around”. Simon and Garfunkel would have been proud of “No Returns”. Even Silverchair can be heard in “China Will Wait”, and Fleet Foxes in “Eat Your Heart Out”. And it’s never unoriginal – it’s just inspired.
But when you throw this all together into a single basket, you have an album that lacks the cohesion necessary to be something truly brilliant.
But you know what? I don’t think that was a mark they were ever going for. I don’t think this comment will surprise them. I don’t think many of these songs were written with a record in mind. Or at least what we may define as a record. I just think they wanted to make great music. I think they wanted to put great music onto a CD and put a smile on our face.
And you know what? That’s exactly what they did.
Review Score: 7.5/10
