Knox Hamilton – The Heights

By: Yaki Margulies

The indie alt-pop dance band Knox Hamilton evokes beaches and sunshine on their debut full-length album, The Heights.  Based in Little Rock, Arkansas (but conjuring California), the trio (consisting of brothers Boots and Cobo Copeland and bassist Drew Buffington) bursts through the starting gate with this infectious, sugar-coated album full of pop gems and shimmery dance vibes.  The album’s cover art fittingly features blue skies, blue eyes, sunlight, and colorful towers of musical discs.

The Heights kicks off with “We Get Back,” a fun three-minute splash of distant surf guitars, reverberating synths and grooving drums.  It sets the (very consistent) tone for the rest of the album, which offers pleasing adolescent jams and catchy hooks, without too much variation.  It’s a joyous, simple affair, making listeners want to shake and move without having to think too hard.

Their debut single “Work It Out,” a fan favorite from 2014, finds its way onto The Heights.  Diaphanous vocals float over a driving bass-line and twinkling guitars, as the lyrics describe a failing relationship – one that sounds definitively over except for the narrator’s mixed message that things can still be mended.  “I know we’ve debated but it’s over, love, that’s all for us / Well, maybe we can work it out.”  In general, the lyrics on the album are broad and relatable, creating a clear emotional reaction, though occasionally bordering on elementary.  “I know why you’re fuming at a thousand degrees / I know you’d like to take one last shot at me,” Boots sings before swiftly shifting gears: “I know, I know / I know we can work it out.”

Another single from the album, “Washed Up Together,” uses nautical metaphors to describe falling in love.  “Castaways overboard / Tidal waves coming for us / Young blood washed up / Mad love washed up… I’ll turn the ship around.”  Over angelic keyboards, pounding drums and beautiful harmonies, they sing about crashing into a life-long love, sometimes diluting their message with disassociated lines like, “Do what you want / I’ll pull my punches,” and “Feel what you feel / I’ll do no better than you / All my life,” the latter sounding more like a case of settling rather than love and gratitude.  But looking beyond the lyrics, the refrain is extremely catchy in a nostalgic, relaxing way and the music video the band released for this single is equally mesmerizing: people’s faces getting squished inside of plastic vacuum bags as the air is sucked out.

The most recent single from the upcoming album, “Never My Love,” might also be their best.  A cover of the 1967 pop hit by The Association, Knox Hamilton’s version adds some extra oomph with charged distortion and sheets of cascading synths, greatly modernizing the track.  While I miss the wordless harmonies of the choir in the original (replaced here with the sound of a music box), the faster tempo and frenetic energy of this cover breathes new life into the record, introducing the ‘60s standard to a new generation of listeners.

The Heights exuberantly ushers in listeners to the music of Knox Hamilton, albeit with a double-edged sword: Their sound is so familiar in this era of folksy beach pop that this album will either be an instant hit or get lost amongst its homogenous contemporaries.  The album is one note, but at least it’s a sunny, foot-tapping note.  There’s much to be loved and enjoyed here.  The lyrics aren’t top-notch, but it’s a strong first statement from a developing band on the rise.

Standout Tracks: “Never My Love,” “Washed Up Together” and the relaxed, acoustic title track “The Heights.”

The Heights will be released through Prospect Park Records on March 10, 2017.  Knox Hamilton will be hitting the road for a North American tour to support the new album, starting with The Rock Boat, a musical cruise, leaving Tampa, Florida on February 10th.