Hangtime – Destroy! CS (Cat’s Claw Records)

Hangtime is a pop-punk quartet emanating from Toronto, Canada. The group is pretty much active for over a decade and has a solid back catalog. Since 2009, the group published two full-lengths named Plug-In and Invictus Melodius, a split with The Mad Murdocs, a single entitled A Thousand Years Ago, and Invasion EP. Soon after that, the band recorded material for a brand new EP called Destroy! This particular record carries seven compositions, including a short instrumental overture. Since June of 2020, Hangtime promoted this material with loads of singles, such as Too Many Days, When We Were Young, My Only One, Start All Over, and Looking For You.

Hangtime delivers the essentials of pop-punk sound, enhanced by polyphonous chord progressions, soothing thematics, and tight guitar shreds. Both guitars are bursting with appealing melodies that are leaning towards the mellow sounding pop-punk sound, but you may notice some classic skate punk maneuvers during the entire recording. The foundations of Hangtime are deeply rooted in the basics of these genres, and it seems that the band feels completely comfortable in these waters. A warm sounding bass guitar is backing up these melodic maneuvers with profoundly detailed basslines that are offering more than simplistic performance. Nothing would sound so compact without excellent drumming performance that supports the entire band with appealing rhythmical acrobatics, usually performed in moderate tempos.

The lyrics are dealing with love, relationships, friendships, memories, aging, and all other classic themes for this particular genre. These compositions are carrying subtle dosages of melancholy, nostalgia, and bitterness, mainly because of the themes covered through lyrics. Tremendous vocal performance appeals to these themes with such ease and unquestionably helps out to the band to convey these messages in the best possible way. If you’re not familiar with Hangtime, their music resembles the sound of Blink 182, Green Day, Millencolin, Descendents, ALL, and Pulley. Still, the group also showcases some unique moves throughout the entire recording. One thing is for sure, these songs will immediately get under your skin.

Destroy comes on a blue cassette and at all streaming services. A very detailed digital illustration follows up both, but it appeals much better to the cassette version of this release. The tape is available for purchase at Cat’s Claw Records web store or Hangtime Bandcamp page.