Microshift

Really interesting sound, love the blending of genres here. Great find

Never heard of Hookworms. Comes in like a lost LFO track then turns into a psych pop art rock thing. Hard to pigeon hole really. Keyboards like Stereolab. Bit of Neu. Probably good live. Kinda throws the kitchen sink at everything in the recording studio. Not that keen really. (Unlike the music journalists who gave it 4 and 5 almost everywhere) Maybe it needs more listens...

it was ok, bit too noisy

decent; 4,5

There's nothing wrong with this, exactly, but I can't imagine putting it on when Fuck Buttons exists. What do you think the chances are of this surviving the next edition of 1001 Albums?

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.

Hints of Kraftwerk and Daft Punk but mostly repetitive and droning. The Soft Season started strong and then... wow. Didn't hate but didn't add.

Moderately interesting and energizing, this record reads like an amalgam of the contemporary indie/alt scene – some math rock, chillwave and slowcore elements and the odd shoegazing moment all thrown in the mixer. The synths and keys threaten to overwhelm a few tracks, but combine intriguingly and to strong effect with the core on a few cuts. I’m not sure how this snuck by me in real time, and I plan to listen again, but I don’t imagine I’ll find any great initially unheard depths. 3.4 for 3.

Cool album cover The transitions between some of the songs are seamless!!

Muy bueno, grata sorpresas

Unspecial but not offensive.

Not sure why this album is on the list. Pretty underwhelming and nothing too special about it. It wasn't awful, but it was very forgettable...

Enjoyed it!

Competent and pleasant — a blend of '80s new wave, synthwave, and psychedelia. Kind of one-note, though.

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.

Du bon indie rock alternatif. Définitivement à réessayer, influences évidentes mais son tout de même original.

3rd March 2022 Listened in the living room while working on the sofa in the afternoon. Chilled evening finishing season 1 of sopranos and first episode of the Morning Show. Reminds me of when I first listened to this working at the Home Office and shared it with Gareth. I like the more grandiose, soaring tracks than the industrial ones but really like it. 3.5 if I could.

Narp. Soz.

Good, reminded me a little bit of arcade fire

Late night listen. Not bad but not something I'd revisit.

A New Favourite

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.[1] The record is dedicated to "Archie", the band's former live sound engineer.

I dig it

This was new to me, and not bad, but nothing remarkable.

A neo/psych/synth rock album that was a pleasant listen with a dreamlike quality to the whole thing. Too bad one of the band members are a total piece of shite. Best: Static Resistance Worst: Each Time We Pass

terrible shit

Pop-rock con algún toque electrónico. No me ha llamado la atención

Wow this is a brand new album for the list. What's up with all the random British music being thrown on, though? I can't figure out why this would make an appearance. Actually enjoyed a good amount of it, but it's not especially notable.

This has a very nostalgic vibe to it - could be the music to a new romance. I listened to this twice.

a weird amount of modern music on this list are avante garde stuff no one listens to this wasn't so bad though, like a less good grizzly bear

Psychodelic

I liked it a lot. Kinda wanna give it a 4 but I’ll stick with a 3.

Pretty damn good! Atmospheric, the connections between songs was well thought out.

It was interesting. I want to give it another listen.

Great record.

Oof. This was REALLY not my thing. I like experimental stuff, but not this. This just felt like noise to me. I don't really "get it", whatever there is to get. Wouldn't re-listen. Fave track: Shortcomings, I guess. Not wild about any of them though.

Album notes. Add them before you vote below.

Really awesome! I had never heard of these guys, but it is just great cool driving indie rock.

Nothing much to comment on here. Sounds like it could have been from 4 decades ago - but also a sound similar to Fun.

Useful to listen to, if only to see what is hip for modern music. The first 45 seconds or so are catchy as heck. It sounds really good, but nothing really grabbed me except the first bit.

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

forgot it was playing

Reminds me of Stereolab plus like indie pop?

Interesting album. First couple songs remind me of more alternative modern baseball

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.

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...

Added to my catalog. Love discovering nuggets like this.

This came as a complete surprise and I really enjoyed it ! 4*

It was OK. Didn't really stick with me. Too polished and produced, could've done with stripping back a bit.

Had interesting stuff in it but didnt fully vibe with me. Would need definitely another listen

Alright. This is an album. It has some slightly interesting but not entirely new approaches. That's it. No idea what could possibly merit the inclusion on this list.

Decent enough but wouldn't rush back to it.

That was a pretty good one.

Boooring

Nah

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

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.

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

Meh, the album.

A lot of melodies and stuff. 0RS

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.

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

Not painful to listen.

Really like this. Reminded me of Les Big Byrd.

Like it - will listen to more. Not a fan of vocals so low in mix.

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

Beautiful, complex, and fun

Strong 4 stars. Honestly pretty awesome album. Surprised I haven’t heard before

This is kinda generic indie rock. And we can't say they were pioneers because this album came in 2018. The sound felt old, something we have heard before.

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.

Never heard this album. It was pretty good but didn't blow me away.

it started out sounding pretty good, but shifted to regular band stuff part way

no real hooks. boring

Didn't do much for me

- remind me of django django - really like boxing day

Started off promising, but ended up sounding pretty generic. Drone rock is one of the listed genres on Wikipedia, and is apt - pedal tones over rock does not an interesting album make.

a little boring

Catchy stuff. Late teens pop....

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.

Didn’t like

Very quirky and interesting sound but also kind of slow for my taste. The song trailed too long too

Wow, 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

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.