In their videos, the Australian duo Hockey Dad are shown skateboarding, skinny dipping, surfing, playing video slot machines, drinking beer, and hanging out at a place called Windang Fast Chicken. A majority of the songs on their full-length debut, Boronia, are about pining for women who are way out of their league. Basically, they are a 2016 version of the Wyld Stallyns, if Bill and Ted had been hypnotized by surf rock instead of metal.
The 11 songs on the album bounce with the excitement and innocence of two best friends—singer and guitarist Zach Stephenson and drummer William Fleming—doing what they love best (or at least second-best; they do seem to be pretty good at surfing). Producer Tom Iansek captures Hockey Dad’s energy well, highlighting their electric jangle, occasional rushes of frothy distortion and lots of bubblegum-popping claps. Stephenson doesn’t indulge in much lead guitar playing, and he sings with what Fleming has dubbed a “scrawny grommy voice,” a rare nasally rasp that puts him in the strange company of Hamilton Leithauser, Bon Scott, Billy Squier, and Joe Elliott from Def Leppard. The album opens with “Can’t Have Them,” which not only sets the nice-guys-finish-last tone that pops up all over Boronia, but also for music that would sound dangerously derivative were it not for Stephenson’s unique voice. “Can’t Have Them” sounds almost like they lifted the backing track from “Not Too Soon” by Throwing Muses and slapped different vocals on top of it, a la “Ça plane pour moi”/“Jet Boy, Jet Girl.” Elsewhere there are moments indebted to the Strokes, Surfer Blood, and Wavves.
As for the stories of unrequited love that populate Boronia; they get old quickly. Sample lyrics include, “As I slowly lose my cool, Laura treats me like a fool, I can’t help it, she’s too perfect” in “Laura;” “I see her in my dreams, but I don’t think she sees me” in “Raygun;” and the whole of “I Need a Woman,” the chorus of which is “Don’t make me cry, I need a woman in my life.” Come on, guys: You play in a band! Cheer up! These lyrics threaten to drag the rest of the album down if you listen too closely, but Stephenson’s vocal melodies are buoyant enough to keep it all afloat if you’re playing this in the background.
Lyrically, the best moment on the album comes close to the end, when Stephenson puts his romantic pursuits on hold, and indulges in a full-on bromantic ballad. “Two Forever” is a heartfelt message that prioritizes the duo’s friendship over all the women of Boronia. “I don’t need love, don’t need no woman, don’t need that shit, ‘cause I got you, man,” he sings. Sure, it doesn’t read well, but it’s sweet and sincere, and it’s the type of mission statement that if true, could hold this band together as they get better. Hopefully, they will continue to be excellent to each other.
