Hankshaw

Nothing Personal (Network)
by Rich Romaine

Any CD that confuses you has a much better chance of being good and staying that way. Instant likability often leaves so little lasting impression, you’re never curious enough to listen to the band again. Hankshaw had me scurrying for the bio which was never sent, checking and double checking the name on the CD, the song titles, and the band members to make sure I was listening to what I was looking at. I even studied the artfully blurry 1″ x 1″ photos, searching for an answer. Network Sound (not to be confused with Nettwerk Records) is affiliated with Conversion and New Age Records, both predominantly hardcore/post-hardcore. But Hankshaw has what I hope is a female singer, gorgeous artwork similar to the artist-run, spare-no-expense packages released by Castle von Buhler, and, if this is post-hardcore, it’s so far removed from the bitchings of middle class white kids who think they’ve got it tough that it’s almost another animal entirely.

With the exception of a popping snare drum sound, there’s little hardcore here. Hankshaw is, generally, a thoughtful, sensitive, female (sounding)-fronted rock band. Some of the harder, more rockin’ songs combine the chugging guitars of pop rock with the non-stop guitar licks of the Descendents, though the production is vastly different. While a couple of the songs saunter into mid-tempo indie rock loathsomeness, most of Nothing Personal showcases a post-Pat Benetar vocalist (which one is “she”: John, Brian, Milton, or Harold?) and a competent rock band who’ve learned the lessons of both ’80s rock and ’90s punk/hardcore.