The Heart Attacks

Hellbound and Heartless (2006)
Hellcat Records

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: GlassPipeMurder
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on January 19th 2007

Forget the last time I criticized an album’s cover based on the goofy press photo adorning it -- this one takes the cake. In fact, I can’t think of any band in the last ten years that has managed to look quite as much like a gaggle of goons as Atlanta, Georgia’s the Heart Attacks on the cover of their Hellcat debut Hellbound and Heartless.

OK, so it’s obvious they’re going for an image. The Nikki Sixx look? Close…“Glam punk.” You know, kind of like the New York Dolls. And they actually pull off the sound quite well.

The album kicks off with Johnny Thunders-style guitar licks on the opener “You Oughtta Know by Now,” introducing the snotty yet dramatic vocals of singer Chase Noles. The third track, “Eyes” is easily one of the catchiest numbers on Hellbound and Heartless, featuring pounding piano chords and impressive saxophone playing which gives the song a throwback rockabilly feel. That feel is taken one step further on the next track as the band takes a stab at Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Travellin’ Band,” which features a guest guitar solo by Mr. Tim Armstrong. Interestingly, the two songs with a saxophone are some of the stronger ones on the album, as it seems to set them apart in an album of songs mostly composed of similar instruments and rhythms.

Rock and roll legend Joan Jett makes a guest vocal appearance on “Tearstained Letters,” a great song that should have been cut off somewhere a little after the two-minute mark, but instead lingers for about two-and-a-half more minutes. “Runnin’ with a Gang” features solid music but unfortunately suffers from lyrics that are poor, yet indicative of the Heart Attacks: "Bats out let’s fight, bats out c’mon let’s fight / Knives out let’s fight, knives out that’s right let’s fight / Guns out let’s fight, let’s fight and we’ll all just die tonight / Yeah they’re big and they got ten, we got twenty, bats out, who you think’ll win?"

Produced by Lars Frederiksen and featuring guest spots from Tim Armstrong, Brett Reed, and Joan Jett, the Heart Attacks certainly have a foundation for success. Whether or not the Heart Attacks catch on remains to be seen, but they’ve proven themselves adequate with Hellbound and Heartless and offered a handful of fun, unique songs that can stand on their own.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

YOUDONTKNOWMARK (April 15, 2007)

i have a feeling that most of the people on this site are 14 year old kids who just found out they can talk trash on the internet and not get caught. just because it isnt "Punk" fellas doesnt meen it aint music. grow up a tad please.

Anonymous (February 2, 2007)

you guy kick ass!!!!!----see you in buffalo

The_Wayfarer (January 25, 2007)

Wow... didn't know they were touring with the Queers. That's disheartening.

kirbypuckett (January 22, 2007)

I'd rather listen to The Heart Attack featuring Cee-Lo.

- Kirby

Anonymous (January 22, 2007)

hellbound and heartless? more like gay and dickless.

Anonymous (January 22, 2007)

Haircut Rock!

Hey_Asshole (January 22, 2007)

score is for the new york dolls

GlassPipeMurder (January 21, 2007)

heh. there's five.

Anonymous (January 21, 2007)

is there really 5 guys in this band or just 3? because it looks like two of them are on the cover twice.

Anonymous (January 21, 2007)

nerds

Anonymous (January 20, 2007)

its was fun watching people trowing cans of beer on the singer in montreal.

Anonymous (January 20, 2007)

yeah these guys suck real hard. i can look past the image if a bandwrites good songs but this shit isn't even as good as say Jet, and thats bad.

Anonymous (January 20, 2007)

More like the Fart Attacks. WHA-BAM!

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

The Dictators at age 60 could still whip all of these dorks' asses. Is it safe to just obliterate Hellcat/Epitaph from the collective memory of the human race at this point?

-Ken

millman (January 19, 2007)

the queers and the riptides definitely showed them up last night, as i'm sure they do every night

GlassPipeMurder (January 19, 2007)

maybe joe queer will teach them a lesson or two on their upcoming tour together.

dietcokeofpunk (January 19, 2007)

I saw them on tour with ACO, and they are not very impressive live.

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

The Briefs?

The_Wayfarer (January 19, 2007)

These guys... are just so bad. I hate them. I live not far from their hometown and I book shows locally. They have an ego the size of Atlanta and they often refuse to come play shows I'd book them for. They were rude and scheuvanistic.

And besides that, this is probably the worst re-hash of '77 punk mixed with today's fast-paced standards I've ever heard... please... 1977 were glory-days... but keep them in the past where they belong. It's like flogging a dead horse.

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

this album is absolute shit.....refer to their first record which they stole 5 songs from for this record....you will like it ten times better plus there is no cover of CCR....BAND RULE #1 NEVER COVER CCR YOU CANT DO IT BETTER THAN FOGERTY!

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

There's a really good band in Europe called the Heartattacks. Way better than the Heart Attacks.

wentz_equals_death (January 19, 2007)

what does brett reed do in his guest spot?

hit the snare drum?

usapsychos (January 19, 2007)

I have seen these guys open for Rancid, but I have to say their singer got annoying really quick. The band themselves were excellent, but I feel if they had a different singer they would sound a lot better.

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

"Hellbound and heartless" is right. This garbage doesn't even belong in the used CD clearance bin- it deserves the fate of being cast to thrift store shelves for eternity.

What great lyrics. I'm sure these guys are the soundtrack to every lameass mallpunk's gangland fantasy. I'll be sure to "watch my back" next time I plan on going to Hot Topic (IE: never).

-Willl

Anonymous (January 19, 2007)

I've only heard one song by these guys. It was a pretty solid track, but I dunno if this is worth buying based on one song.