Hyena’s debut single “Mental Home” is teeming with visceral energy. It’s the ultimate high for the band from 2014, a year that has seen the return of rock. Royal Blood producer Tom Dalgety produced the single, which combines brutal, heavy Queens of the Stone Age-esque riffs and the quirky rock melodies of Pulled Apart By Horses. Hyena are bringing a fresh new edge to the genre, much like their contemporaries Darlia and Drenge.
The single itself is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the fact that nowhere is normal and everywhere is strange. The band are asking us to question what ‘normal’ means. Frontman Jacob Bell says, “the song is basically saying ‘what are you going to tell me is good for me next and where else are you going to tell me to go?’ – it’s all the same, everywhere.”
Rising from the ashes of Weatherbird, all four members (Jacob Ball, Joshua Taylor, Dom Farley and Reuben Gwilliam) decided to reinvent themselves as Hyena. The band had been playing as Weatherbird since they were 13-years-old and it was time for a new direction. With Tom Dalgety on board as producer and the single being mastered by John Davis (Led Zeppelin, Wolf Alice), Hyena are definitely off to a good start.
Being from Telford, the boys have fought to create their own scene. With not much going on in their hometown, they’ve carved their own space, built their own ladder and they’re attempting to climb it all the way to the top.
The Telford newcomers have clearly been looking closely at what Royal Blood did last year – and why not? With songs as good as ‘Mental Home’ they’re certainly doing something right.
Mental Home released via Red Venom Records on 17th November 2014. lookout for this band in 2015
The Fat Angel Sings 