From Iceland — HOFFMAN: BAD SEEDS

Published December 3, 2004

For listeners of local rock station, X-ið 9.77, the name Hoffman might ring a bell as two of the bands songs have been featured on its playlist in recent weeks. Both can be found on ‘Bad Seeds’ as well as four brand new songs from the latest rock group to come out of the Westman Islands, just outside of the mainland’s south-coast…Come to think of it, I cannot recall any notable predecessors from the islands, best known for the volcanic eruption in 1973 and of course Keikó (sorry, I won’t mention him again). Hoffman may that even if it doesn’t quite come off for them on their debut, though certainly not for lack of trying. This solid six-piece has the potential to go on leaps and bounds and with the first record out of the way, quick progress could well be just around the corner.

The members of Hoffman have referred to their music as acid-rock and all in all it’s a pretty accurate description. There are hints of grunge as well as post-punk and the swirling give the songs a nice 70’s feel. Musicians and vocalist alike handle their duties with ease and the overall quality of the recording is quite good, but it’s in the songwriting department alone where Hoffman fall short, they lack the character which seperates good bands from the average ones.

In all fairness, it is probably expecting too much from a band, releasing it’s first ep to have instantly found it’s own voice so the jury is still very much out on Hoffman. After laying down the foundations, the band will need to work hard to build on them before making a real mark on the music scene. Watch this space…