Operation Hurricane – White Walls EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 27/11/2020
Running Time: 17:47
Review by Steven Hooke
7/10
Hailing from the largely untapped haven of the Netherlands, three-piece Operation Hurricane offer up a debut release of their particular brand of “pseudo-grunge”, a self-defined genre that mixes grunge, prog, punk and pop. Compare “White Walls” to their previous singles ‘Mary Jane’ and ‘Fly’ and you can see why they opt for a loose definition of their sound, with the former presenting itself as a more stoner rock-ian affair whilst the latter exists somewhere between pop punk and classic car stereo hard rock.
And honestly, why commit yourself to just one genre? The trio are all university students, a place where different cultures, ideas and experiences collide, and Operation Hurricane seem set on a similar journey with their music.
‘WW//BC’ is a short, snappy affair to open proceedings, sitting on classic rock tropes as Max Coenders rhythmically lashes his snare into submission, whilst Jari Stoppelenburg maintains the flow of the song with his noodling bassline. From the straightforward opener, we go into the first big highlight from the EP, ‘-Undefined-‘; a stage-ready alt rock banger that seems to be taking notes from the likes of Foo Fighters and QOTSA. Frontman Jurriaan Kurpershoek possesses a smooth, brooding voice akin to Jock from Puppy that whilst it does stick to a fairly narrow lane, it fits in conjunction so well with the music, the lads clearly acknowledging their strengths and how to work around each other.
‘Bittersweet’ and ‘So It Goes’ bring the pace down to more gloomier affairs, stylising themselves around more grunge royalty, with doomier elements borrowed from Alice in Chains and acoustic, more brooding vibes harking back to Pearl Jam.
Final track ‘Lose Control’ brings back the in-your-face rock seen earlier on the EP with more choruses begging for a live atmosphere. Lyrically exploring mental health issues that are becoming all too apparent for many people, delivered with such energy and gravitas almost in competition with those bad vibes. Again, the combination of Jari and Max producing leering, crawling verses that explode into a rapturous, high-energy chorus may be an easy win or cheap pop (to borrow a wrestling term) but hey, it works for a reason.
“White Walls” is a fun opening gambit for a very young band. Acknowledging early their openness to have a bit of genre fluidity will mean a variety of rock ideas not hampered by imaginary gateposts. I mean it worked great for the likes of Puppy, Dinosaur Pile-Up and Jamie Lenman. Plus, big sounding choruses this early on is a huge positive going forward.
TRACKLISTING:
01. WW//BC
02. -Undefined-
03. Bittersweet
04. So It Goes.
05. Lose Control
LINE-UP:
Jurriaan Kurpershoek – Lead Vocals, Guitar
Jari Stoppelenburg – Bass, Backing Vocals
Max Coenders – Drums
LINKS:
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