Handwritings - Boring, Dumb, and Fine

Handwritings is a lo-fi, indie rock band from Olympia, WA. I happened upon their most recent album, "Boring, Dumb, and Fine;" because a friend of mine saw them open for Pat the Bunny. I was glad I did.

They've got the slacker thing down. Managing to portray the "trying really hard to seem like there's no trying being done at all," that was popular with 90's bands like Pavement and Marcy Playground, without coming off as emo. All of the disjointed slack-rock that comes out after about 2000 seems so whiny to me. It's refreshing to find a solid example of that kind of music, advanced 20 years, and not tainted by the overly-hip, acoustic whine-fest, that is bands like the Mountain Goats, or Rural Alberta Advantage.

Handwritings is your typical guitar, bass, drums three piece rock outfit. The guitars come off as slightly out of tune at times, and the vocal harmonies are a bit off key, but that's obviously what they were looking for. I can hear some really juicy riffs, and mind-destroyingly catchy hooks, that were cleverly hidden behind the "we're no good at this" image they seem to be going for.

For example, 'Other Guys' boasts the hook line, "Smoke rings and cough medicine. Tell me, tell me where to begin," which should get lodged in your brain until you beat it out, but it's delivered in such an uncaring way, that it fades in with the rest of the lyrics you probably won't listen to.

For the most part, these guys come off as bored, probably stoned, and definitely lazy. Which is super relatable to the Olympia community at large. Everyone I've ever met in this town, knows all about long days spent too stoned to get up and go to that class you've skipped twice already that week. I can see this band getting lots of play here in town, or fading into obscurity, simply because the indie-hipsters care less than Handwritings want you to think they do. The fact that none of the songs really come off as a hit probably won't do them any favors either. The album as a whole, however, belongs in the cars of underwhelmed, twenty-somethings everywhere.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5.