And Hawkes Bay’s finest returns with new single Learn To Crawl. A song guitarist Charlie Wallace says is about uncovering the true nature of people you believed were other than they turned out to be, this diverges somewhat from their previous numbers in that it’s a more restrained tempo, with a more temperate mix.

The band’s bass and drums elevate even further in this song in their delivery and the imaginative tools used to hit their stride. Drummer Josh Te Maro uses a lot of his set anyway, but this time there’s even more. Watch the vid on the You Tubes, and (as well as seeing inside Charlie‘s house!) you can see how these professionals do things with their skin smacker at the top of his game.

To me, while retaining a 2024 production in quality, I am transported back to the days where metal at the end of the 80s was coming to terms with the advent of grunge. The metal scene was under-sold during the period, and bands that could and should have been massive missed out. Vocalist Baldrick delivers yet another mammoth performance, demonstrating his pitch and timbre and showing the gentler side to his overall skill. I could describe the vocal sound as what you’d get if Ricky Warwick from The Almighty joined The Offspring. Just for term of reference – no copycats in this band.

The orchestration contains some atmospheric guitar picking, as well as some ass-kicking, meaty rhythm work. Over the top is the signature blistering lead work that Wallace is by now highly regarded for. Let’s not forget Dan Fulton, the bass player who runs the ship with his solid work in tandem with Te Maro.

Add the layered vocal harmonies and we’re icing the wedding cake of the year. This is a band that has seriously gelled.

A shoo-in for the Rock, Hauraki, Juice TV, and a sure-fire crowd pleaser at their current and up-coming major support slots, Learn To Crawl is open to your own interpretation as far as how you receive the meaning. I can’t say much more that that, really. Black Smoke Trigger continues to fill my heavy rock happy place. Let them in to fill yours.