Albums

Hayze - What Goes Around...Comes Around

Bruce Turnbull 01/04/2007

Rating: 2/5

Good production is something I've always treasured. It has the ability to transport the most horrendously mundane records to higher levels of esteem. At least if the tracks in question suffer, the album has one redeeming factor. Well I can say sadly that Ipswich indie quartet Hayze have employed neither professional sound quality, nor decent songs.

The conceptually intelligent artwork is appealing in its structure, although the final execution palls due to the appalling typeface. That's not what I'm here to judge. Although discussing “What goes around…Comes Around” as a piece of art may be more apt than you'd think; it will certainly be gawked at by a large amount of people who will ultimately confess, “I just don't see what all the fuss is about.”

Since 2002, Hayze have been floating at the top of the fishbowl, releasing three substandard EPs and one full length album through their own independent label. Their new collection of tracks is a little better than what has gone before, but it's really only “Lose Control” that boasts a sing-along chorus, the rest just meander through indie-by-numbers, glazed to a finish by the alternative rock which predated their preferred style. “Superstar” sums up Hayze like a clothesline: so much used material hanging from it that it is ultimately weighed down; merely floating in obscurity.

I won't belabour their efforts, as Hayze clearly have talent they should be able to utilise given a blast of Herculean guile - which I doubt will be any time soon - though what ever exploratory measures they take to find their true identity, they will be hard pressed to find it hiding under the cloak of languor they are currently sporting.

Released: 02/04/2007