Hawel/McPhail

If the decades-long friendship of two Hamburg musicians regularly revolves around their shared love of indie rock and - as befits guitarists - fuzz pedals, it is only logical that these very preferences are immediately noticeable when it comes to the formation of a joint band. Frehn Hawel (vocals, guitar) and Rick McPhail (drums, vocals), on the road in the German music scene for a good two decades, release as hawel / mcphail on 21.05.2021 with "Transmissions From The Upper Room" their debut album on La Pochette Surprise Records. And what was better suited as the first single than the first song together?
After a short intro, pause play opens the door to the hawel / mcphail cosmos in just under three minutes. A danceable beat, a nervous guitar and a chorus that catches on after the second listen - not much more is needed for a rousing garage rock song. In terms of content, "pause play" follows the principle of the "sugar coated bullet", which despite its pop appeal is by no means conceived as a pure feel good number, but rather deals with the feeling of being trapped in a permanently optimized, efficiency-driven world and the inevitable failure of all attempts to lead a real life in the wrong one.