Album Review: Hearts & Hand Grenades – Where I Begin (Eclipse Records)

American NWOCR band Hearts & Hand Grenades are back, starting off 2024 with a bang, as they release their new album ‘Where I Begin’ on January 26th, 2024, via Eclipse Records.

Hearts & Hand Grenades are a great band, and always deliver a wicked blend of modern and classic hard rock. It’s good to have them back, and they are back with serious aplomb. Keeping things simple with Burn (By My Fire) and showing off the effective infectiousness that has always made this band lovable. Although, be under no false illusions; it has groove, plenty of bite, a great melodic shift, and a heavy breakdown too.

You can learn a lot about Hearts & Hand Grenades with this opener, in particular, the album’s focus on the toxic politics of love and relations.

One of the most appealing things about this band is their attitude, and vocalist/bassist Stefanie Wlosinski has such feisty power to her voice. She kills it on the title track, which also has a damn fine guitar solo, but showcases even more kickass power on the following head-banger that is Boom. Before Silver offers up something punkier, featuring an erratic pace, and an anthemic chorus.

Hearts & Hand Grenades are driving forward with intent, and there’s a fair argument to be made that this album finds them at their most accessible. Both in terms of style and in length. It has ten tracks, and the overall thing comes in at around 35-minutes. That’s very digestible, even before you take into account the ear-worming efforts that exist on it.

Ear-worm efforts like the dramatic command that Let Me Down holds, a side of Hearts & Hand Grenades that never fails to impress. Or ear-worm efforts like Way Down Low, a track that sees the band move out of their comfort zone slightly with a modernised rocker. A risk that more than pays off, especially as the drumbeats are class, and the soloing is smile-inducing.

The hot streak they’re on isn’t ending any time soon, as Better Off Alone proves to be powerful rock and roll hit of adrenaline with a banger chorus. It’s the kind of song you play someone to show just how damn infectious band can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwjZ9GOSpa0

Though, play I Just Want My Rock and you might get some strange looks. Here, surprisingly, Hearts & Hand Grenades blend rock, country, hip-hop, & pop. It’s a confusing track that feels at odds with the rest of the album. Bravo for being willing to do some serious experimentation, but it just doesn’t work.

Thankfully, things get back on track with Anywhere But Here and Over Again. The former being a ‘traditional’ Hearts & Hand Grenades listen that is as infectious as most of what came before. Whereas the latter is one last impressive example of the band’s overall talents as they continue to move forward in new and interesting ways.

Aside from that one track (which many others may love), this is a banger album, and a really strong showing from Hearts & Hand Grenades. They’re really becoming a bankable name, and there’s a strong impression that they will only keep getting bigger when this is their kind of output.

Hearts & Hand Grenades – Where I Begin Track Listing:

1. Burn (By My Fire)
2. Where I Begin
3. Boom
4. Silver
5. Let Me Down
6. Way Down Low
7. Better Off Alone
8. I Just Want My Rock
9. Anywhere But Here
10. Over Again

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