In A Million Pieces,
The Draft
So, what do you do when you are a popular, established and acclaimed band and one of your members leaves? Well, if you are three quarters of Hot Water Music, you pick yourself up, get a new guitarist and start a new band. The Draft, then, are three-fourths of HWM, with the aptly named Todd Rockhill coming in as the new guitarist and Chris Wollard moving up to frontman duties. ‘In A Million Pieces’ is the band’s debut album and represents both a nod to, and a change from, the past.
The Draft do draw upon a lot of what has gone before as Hot Water Music, but they have also made a conscious decision to bring something new and refreshed to the table. The core of the band’s sound is still firmly in the roots of post punk. However, The Draft have taken their cue from the more recent HWM albums and gone further down the road of melody. You only have to hear the likes of ‘Lo Zee Rose’ with it’s huge gang vocals, and the extremely upbeat ‘Wired’, to understand there are tracks here that you just wouldn’t have found on a HWM album. It is tracks like these that help to give The Draft their own identity.
There is, though, plenty here to keep long-term fans of HWM happy. ‘Longshot’ and ‘Not What I Wanna do’ are pure punk rock songs, full of drive and passion – just the sort of material HWM made their name by. However, the nicest aspect of this album is that the songs that sound the best are actually the tracks that aren’t drawn from the HWM stable. From the hints of ska in ‘Let It Go’ to the simply stunning and huge sounds of album standout ‘All We Can Count On’, it is clear that the process of change and renewal has benefited these guys immensely.
By approaching this band with ‘New Eyes Open’ the remnants of Hot Water Music have crafted a very enjoyable album. ‘In A Million Pieces’ is a fantastic debut that should appeal to long-term HWM fans and new listeners alike. The Draft are a more than worthy successor to a great band, and have managed to create their own identity in the process.
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