Hockey, a five-piece band from Portland, Ore., delivered a fittingly chaotic live spectacle to a small but spirited crowd at the Spanish Moon on Tuesday night.
The band released its debut LP, “Mind Chaos,” in October to favorable reviews after several years of false starts as a band.
“Chaos” is an apt description of the band’s overall style, as Hockey packs an abundance of sounds that span from electro and dance to Americana and pop during the course of the record’s 12 tracks.
“Our wide array of sounds is a weird thing because most bands will change their sound from record to record,” said lead singer Benjamin Grubin. “But we kind of did that from song to song, which is a risky venture as a new band.”
This variety of styles is especially strange because Hockey is signed to EMI, a major label.
“Most people are caught off guard at how much we packed in to our debut record, and some people are skeptical at the authenticity of our diversity since we are on a major label,” said bassist Jeremy Reynolds.
Hockey recorded most of “Mind Chaos” on a meager $3,000 budget in the basement of their house despite the major label affiliation.
“It was a very DIY production and a lo-fi one too,” Reynolds pointed out. Stylistic differences on every song make “Chaos” a difficult record to categorize, but an easy one to love.
“Each song is a vignette, really,” Reynolds noted. “They’re short stories rather than this cohesive novel of an album.”
Tuesday’s show at The Spanish Moon showcased Hockey’s intense live show and varied soundscapes.
The band’s stage demeanor served as a perfect complement to the Sprite pop displayed on “Chaos.”
Grubin’s vocals matched the strained emotions of the band’s studio output impeccably, and he occasionally backed away from the microphone to bang on the drums with thunderous fervor.
The rest of the band, including Reynolds, displayed a refined live style, captivating the crowd with propulsive beats and clean, funky rifts.
“Our shows can certainly be very chaotic,” Reynolds said with a chuckle.The band credited the album’s up-tempo style as integral to its live set.”Every show is different, but ‘Chaos’ is such a high-energy album anyway that we have to bring some intensity to our live shows to do the songs right,” Reynolds said.
The band ran through most of the essentials from its discography to date, perfecting brilliant singles, such as dance-punk lead single “Too Fake” and breezy pop smash “Song Away” in a live setting while also playing fan favorites like “3am Spanish” with polished efficiency.
Critics have at times derided the band for being little more than fun dance music.
The band claims to love the fun side of its sound, but Grubin also pointed out the subtleties of the band’s lyrics.
“There’s issues of religion, psychology, sociology, war and so much more in my lyrics,” Grubin said. “I think there’s more depth there than some people give us credit for.”
The band said the title of the record reflects this difference in opinions.
“That’s what ‘Mind Chaos’ is,” Reynolds said. “It’s everybody’s different opinion.”
Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]