Microshift
Hookworms
2018
Album Summary
Microshift is the third studio album, fourth long play record and final album by British rock band Hookworms. It was released on 2 February 2018 by Domino Recording Company. The album's namesake is an audio plug-in. The record is dedicated to "Archie", the band's former live sound engineer. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
WikipediaWow, this is currently the absolute newest album on the list. No surprise, then, that it happens to be British, because why else would an album this unremarkable be chosen to represent that year? Be honest, who really thinks that this is something we MUST hear before we kick the bucket? To name a few from 2018 alone, I think Kacey Musgraves' Golden Hour, Earl Sweatshirt's Some Rap Songs, Tierra Whack's Whack World, SOPHIE's Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, hell, even Travis Scott's Astroworld are all leaps and bounds closer to being "must-listens" before you die. I wouldn't say this album is bad music, but it's a pretty bland selection (and current conclusion) for this list. I liked a couple tunes, but I can't say I'd return to it. The bias is strong with this one. Favorite tracks: Static Resistance, Opener. Album art: The saving grace here is that the album art is pretty neat. I like the colors and the smooth, abstract art. Made me expect something funky and groovy, and the music didn't quite deliver. 2.5/5
Yeah, so I really enjoyed this. A lot. So much so that I had to look up Hookworms - an act I'd literally never heard of. And I rather wish I hadn't. This album game me strong Spiritualised vibes - and that cannot possibly be a bad thing. Catchy, melodic and multilayered, this album stands up. I might even go an listen to their first two albums. Just don't go looking into the band and you'll be blissfully unaware of the need to separate art from artist and the context its made in.
This is what I signed up to this site for. An album and a band I had never heard of that blew me away. Mesmeric beats and samples building up to a shimmering flow that drags me in. Sure, I couldn't tell you want the lyrics are about, or even remember them, but every song have ideas and their own hooks. No filler.
The perfect balance between noisy and catchy, poppy and experimental. Call me Goldilocks, because this was just right, and I’m gonna fucking devour this porridge.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was tripping out in a nice way when I listened for the first time. I'd like to report that it opened up a whole new world for me. And it actually did for a while. But then I started feeling like I was in the middle of the panic scene of Batman Begins when Cillian Murphy throws that fear gas at a young Katie Holmes, which made me realize she was in that movie before Tom Cruise entered her life, so much so that she didn't do The Dark Knight and we just had to accept that Rachel Dawes is now played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. I don't really have anything against Maggie Gyllenhaal, it's just, you know. Tough beat. Show up for half of what is considered the greatest superhero movie ever before your character is killed off. So yeah that's the rabbit hole I went down with this album. The shrooms did the heavy lifting, and I eventually stopped listening to this and chose some Fat Elvis alternate take of a Righteous Brothers song that the King allegedly performed after Midnight in front of a rapid Vegas crowd. I bet the Colonel was passed out, but I'm telling you, Elvis was BRINGING IT! He even came back and did the "Baby Baby, I get down on my knees for you..." part again at the end of the song. If there's anyone who could ever will you into bringing back that lovin' feeling, it's Goddamn Vegas Elvis in the wee small hours of the morning.
I’m not sure - is this sub par New Order or sub par LCD Soundsystem? Either way, not quite enough here to sustain engagement with the record.
Very chill but somewhat unique vibe. No bangers/ memorable songs to me though
Really awesome! I had never heard of these guys, but it is just great cool driving indie rock.
Great stuff! Sounds a bit like gizz, a little like arcade fire, but all around very enjoyable song writing
Primeira música é impressionante, demonstra opção de psicoldelia ampliada.
Voice is slightly annoying but the music is really good and Im into it. Great album
Great. It hit me in the right mood. Good mix of modern indie electronics and psychedelia
Krauty, rocky, beaty, lovely I needed this. Nice little injection of good modern music i hadn't heard before.
Strong 4 stars. Honestly pretty awesome album. Surprised I haven’t heard before
Weird perhaps even stupid name but damn, I Like this album. It rocks...it has soul and it's mostly electronic. I enjoyed most every song. I really enjoyed the album and I will delve deeper into their catalogue. 4 stars
Reminds me of all the indie rock albums I listened to in college. This isn't a bad thing at all, but it feels of an era pre-2015. Surprising that it came out in 2018. Probably doesn't deserve a 4, and if I really think about it, I don't "get" why it deserves a slot on this list. But I like this kind of music a lot.
I really like this, shades of MGMT and Tame Impala, nice and dreamy with some interesting weirdness in there such as the broken guitars in Boxing Day. Each Time We Pass was a standout for me, really nice song
I enjoyed this - I like a bit of motorik style krautrock. Not entirely sure what qualified this album for the list, though? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Fave track - uh, "Static Resistance" maybe? I listened to it three times and no specific track jumped out at me, although I liked the album well enough as a whole...
Sono rimasto spiazzato all'inizio, ma facendo l'abitudine ai suoni elettronici ne escono dei bei pezzi. Sì, una piacevole esperienza. 'Each time we pass' la mia preferita. Sta tra il 3 e il 4, direi 4 perché mi ha piacevolmente sorpreso.
funky. i like the keyboards. reminds me a bit of genesis. freaking love static resistance. synthy madness. reminds me of the Brian Eno from Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Pretty damn good! Atmospheric, the connections between songs was well thought out.
Du bon indie rock alternatif. Définitivement à réessayer, influences évidentes mais son tout de même original.
Cool album cover The transitions between some of the songs are seamless!!
This one really took me off guard. I had never heard of this band and honestly thought they were electronic vs alt rock Apparently now broken up after this one came out from accusations against their lead singer which is unfortunate.
Really interesting sound, love the blending of genres here. Great find
Never heard of this bunch. Quite like it. It’s never a 5 but glad to have discovered them. Cover art 5/5. You can beat a bit of surrealism
Really good. I enjoyed it. The vocals were hidden in mix and should be more profound.
When I first started listening to this album, I would not have guessed that it was from 2018. I'm not sure that I could place when exactly it was from, but this album is a throw-back to earlier synth music in many ways. There are also many modern elements, and everything blends together seamlessly. Some parts of it compare favorably to Animal Collective's sound. Really cool synth pop with solid if not overwhelming lyrical content. Dope. 4/5
Had never heard of them before, but I really enjoyed this album! I don't feel like there was anything particularly innovative or stand-out about it, but it's well-executed melodic electronica which is good enough for a 4/5 in my book!
Surprisingly good. I didn't know anything about it going in, but I really enjoyed the album and will look forward to listening to it again.
Never heard of this band but enjoyed the listen. If i had to compare them to someone, they're like a more straight forward Tame Impala
Wow.. I'm surprised how much I like this.. I'll be listening to this more for sure.
I actually thought this was sick, reminded me of Foals and sort of Arcade Fire. and Little Comets kind of, but more experimental at times. Will listen again! Summer vibe
Neo-psychedelia, space rock, noise rock, drone rock. Muy chulo. Un poco Claps your hands and say heah, pero con más guitarra.
Good neo-psychedelia, like a lesser MGMT to me. Disappointing to hear about why they dissolved as a group.
When the album started I thought: oh idk about this… but then I ended up rather liking it!
Very interesting album. The mix of post pop punk and new wave flow together beautifully.
A bit strange, can't quite place the genre but pleasant enough to listen to
Hlustaði tvisvar, fannst skemmtilegt og mundi hlusta aftur, jafnvel í fjórða sinn.
Surprisingly good! Typical Indie sound of the late 2000s, few filler songs and generally songs dragging on a bit but overall catchy and easy listening songs
I can't remember the first Hookworms track I heard but it was streaming era randomness—which is to say either partly or wholly governed by the algorithm. It felt like just a song on a playlist somewhere in the Spotify Sea. Off the coast of Wherever, it was enough to make me look into them. I've been a casual fan since. It must be hard for bands with casual fans. I never bought any merch, never bought an album, never supported them by going to a show or sending a few dollars their way. Essentially, I streamed a song or two with some regularity, probably threw one of them onto a playlist mix that I listened to for a month before forgetting it, maybe listened to a few albums at the outset during the discovery phase. And what's that amount to in terms of financial viability? A few pennies here and there from me. I understand platform math and the long tail and how things can add up. But they don't always. I also understand the money isn't what drives most music, but they got to eat too. Anyway, I hope these guys who were around from 2010 to 1028 understand. I liked them then and now. And I really like this record. It's definitely in that sweet spot for me of psychedelic, fuzzy, synthy rock. Some tracks step into the pop realm more than I might prefer but it feels holistic to the band. It doesn't feel like a coincidence that it's Neu! 75 for me one day, and Hookworm's Microshift for me the next. They, along with Maserati/Turing Machine, sound like kin to my ears. And, the kind of family you want to hang with. Not some annoying cousin who you wish would stay home. -- Note: Of course, this is one of the dangers of casual fandom: You might not ever know about if or when someone has been a creep. And, that just might come to light after hearing their record on 1001albumsgenerator.com and writing a positive (unedited) review only to check out the wikipedia after the record closes but before your new album is up.
It’s always more exciting for me when there is a more recent band on the daily album generator that I haven’t heard of. It makes sense if I haven’t heard of a band from long before I was born, but something from just a few years ago then went under my radar is always good fun to explore! Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Ullswater, Negative Space This was such a fun album. I’m always a sucker for a good synth, and I got the feeling from only the first few notes that I was going to like this. The synths stay throughout, but it is much more rocky than those first few notes would suggest. The music is high energy throughout, and the vocals sound great - somehow reminiscent of playing sports games as a kid despite this album being released long afterwards. Overall, an easy album to recommend if, like me, this album passed you by when it released 4 years ago.
Nice to hear something I wasn't already familiar with that I liked a lot. Very reminiscent of Arcade Fire. 4 stars.
Pretty dope grooves. Some of the songs are a little meh in comparison but in general I enjoy the vibe and vocals.
Heard of, without hearing this band (knowingly). Excellent on first listen.
An interesting choice for an album from 2018. I liked it and I dug the synthy vibes. Will check out the other albums from this group (although another artist that had a sexual creep in it seems). 4.5/5
This is one of the few albums I had to listen to a second time to figure out what I think about it. I'm still not entirely sure, but I now know enough to call this very good. The first few tracks left me underwhelmed at first, but the album gets better with every track, and I'm quite fond of tracks like Opener and Shortcomings. Somehow, I find this mixture of electronica, pop and rock very fascinating, and my second listen intensified that feeling for me. I suspect I will listen to this again multiple times, and I still don't know what I like about it especially. I just do. Perhaps it's best not to overthink it. 4/5 ish
I've never heard of Hookworms before, but this album reminded me in parts of some of my favorite music from the Indie Sleaze era of the 2010's. I thought the instrumentation was great, and all of the songs were really catchy and well written. I enjoyed the lyrics as well, especially on 'Negative Space.' Even though I enjoyed listening to it, I don't know if it's something that I'll necessarily seek out again, but I'm glad I can appreciate it for being a really well made album.
Never heard of these before.... Really enjoyed it, right up my street. This site says it is "rock" but it isn't. Not sure what I would call this but it reminds me of the shins, the postal service, or public service broadcasting. I'll be listening again
I didn't like this album at first but felt there was something there, so I gave it another listen and I'm glad I did. I preferred the more electronic/psychedelic tracks and the longer songs were some of were my favourites. Highlights were "Each Time We Pass", "Opener" and "Ullswater".
That was really good, just the right blend of electronic loops and indie. Heard a lot of other bands in there and this was better than most of them.
Great album. Less loud and punk than their previous two, but still got that familiar krautrock/pysch sound with the addition of more synth / electronic. The antithesis of laddy indie rock. Lyrically too they don’t shy away from sensitive themes, which made the allegations about the singer even more shocking at the time. Pleased to see other members have found success elsewhere- they’re far too good to have their careers cancelled by the actions of one idiot
First time listen. This is a good driving album, the songs run together nicely, the beat fits a road running pattern Will check it out again
Drone rock. Wow another genre moniker that fits perfectly. This is hard driving good beats by a band that I never heard of. They must have liked Kraftwerk back in the day. I didn't get time to discover too much of the lyrics but I did check out lyrics to Negative Space; they deal with emotions and hallucinations after a good friend dies. Very well done. I like that the list is augmented with recent stuff and I will be generous with rating more recent albums that I like. When we're done and we look back at our ratings, I don't want all my 4s and 5s to be bands comprised of old grey haired fothermuckers like me.
Positief verrast. Alhoewel psychedelische invloeden niet zozeer een plus zijn voor mij, vind ik dat ze het in dit album op een creatieve manier hebben gebruikt, en zo zitten er dan ook wat aardige nummers tussen.
A 2018 release! This means that I won't be able to find it in my edition of the book, so I'll have no idea why it's on here. And that's kind of the problem with newer albums: unless they made a big splash upon release or soon after (see: Black Star by David Bowie), then an album is going to have to so some heavy lifting to convince me that it's important or influential. Otherwise, it's just a newer album that some guy liked more than another album on the list. Well, consider me impressed because this mountain of sound is so good. The steady beat with the psychedelic synth walls envelop the sound so nicely. "Opener", in particular, is not afraid to explore it's sonic landscape for a while before kicking in the vocals. And that's probably my only real problem with the album: the vocals. While the grandiose electronic arrangements blow me away, the vocal bits remind me of a generic garage-rock revival band from the 2000's that is just alright. "Boxing Day" also ends abruptly; who's production choice was that? Overall it's a good album. Pretty superb album, if you ask me. However, it'll need more time to see if it'll do anything to the wider music landscape. I can hear some of it in the newest King Gizzard album "Butterfly 3000", but "Microshift" still has some heavy lifting to do for it to really earn a spot on the list.
Not my favourite album. Songs weren’t bad but I thought all the tracks sounded like one big merger. Obviously this is intended but I need to listen to it again but as a first listen I wasn’t really feeling it - @CJEdwardsx Ali- Pleasantly surprised by the purposeful blending of each track however that did make me feel slightly bored at times as it felt like one long song.
it started out sounding pretty good, but shifted to regular band stuff part way
This is a new one for me. While I'm scratching my head as to what makes this album so important that I listen to it before I die, I like it. I'll have to check this group out to check on the rest of their catalog.
Album tak swiezy, ze jeszcze goracy, bo rocznik 2k18 a juz na tak elitarnej liscie sie znalazl, jest to trzecia i ostatnia plyta w dyskografii hookwormsow, dosc nietypowej grupy, mocno indyjskiej dodatkowo brytyjskiej, wszyscy czlonkowie bandy ukryci sa pod pseudonimami bedacymi pierwszymi literami imienia i nazwiska, a czlonkow bylo pieciu, wiec jak na rokowa bande przystalo, lineup skladal sie z drumera, dwoch gitar, basiste ktory ogarnial takze synthezatory, ktorych mocne wykorzysztanie definiuje brzmienie tej plyty, oraz frontmena MJa wokalnego, pisarzyste tekstowego i klawiszowca, a wiec jeszcze wiecej syntezatorowego brzmienia, pewnie jedynie tego jegomoscia zapamietam, bo pol strony wiki zajebane o tym jak to banda sie rozpadla, jak nie chodzi o pieniadze, to zawsze chodzi o baby, w skrocie byla laska zostala reprezentantem nieznajomej laski, ktora uskarzala sie na napasc seksualna frontmana bandy, szybka kampania twitterowa i banda do rozwiazania i kariera porobiona, ciekawe z perspektywy tego, ze najdluzszy kawalek albumu opener mowi wlasnie o tym, ze chopy to nie musza byc twarde rejpujace karki, ale moga tez byc ciapciakami, ostatnie notki albumowe sa o wiele rozwiazle, wiec jesli chodzi o sama plyte, to microshift dobrze synthezuje feeling psychodelicznego rocka z elementami elektroniki, slychac zabawe na synthah i samplach, slucha sie tego troche jak dark side of the moon pinkow, ze wzgledu na to jak traki sa ze soba polaczone i nie czuc pomiedzy nimi przejscia, wiec plyta idealna na pojedyczna sesje odsluchu, 45 minut na 9 trakach nie wydaje sie byc zbyt dlugie zeby znudzic, a czuc ze material tworzony jako calosciowy koncept, a nie zbior traczkow, wiec pomimo tego ze liryka jak i wokale wydaja sie troche zbyt mialkie, to jednak w tej popowosci nerdzik moglby tez uslyszec cos dla siebie, wiec dla mnie ulubionym kawalkiem plyty jest instrumentalny reunion, najbardziej psychodeliczny numer albumu, wiec leci na plejke, wraz z drugim na trakliscie static resistance, nie wiem gdzie juz slyszalem ten synthezator, ale strasznie charakterystyczne brzmienie, jesli mialbym strzelac to prawdopodobnie cos od the who, moze baba orilley ma podobne fragmenty, skoro nawet tak nowozytne numery sa na liscie, to nic tylko czekac na jakies spolczesne murzyny mumblujace zeby je zjedynkowac
Really liked Negative Space and Shortcomings. This isn't the music I was expecting from a band called Hookworms - quite similar to LCD Soundsystem in places . I got a bit bored by parts of the second half and some of those songs.outatayed their welcome. nice record to have on in the background for work though
It's in the same vein as a lot of my favourite music from the past decade so no surprise I enjoyed this too. I'm not sure it's necessarily better or more important than other similar albums that probably aren't on this list though. 3.5.