There’s a lot to like about scrappy proto-grunge trio I Heart Hiroshima. There’s the unabashed ’90s revivalism, or the fact that they’re resurrecting the long lost art of male-female vocal jousting. So why is it that I’ve stared at my promotional copy of The Rip for weeks and struggled to find the words to acutely describe the band’s second record? The fact is, despite their impressive back catalogue and an even more impressive live reputation, the album fails to live up to both their prior material and the electricity generated by the Brisbane trio on stage.

I Heart Hiroshima have always eschewed the traditional songwriting form, opting for circular songs that forego obvious choruses and instead emphasise repetition, both lyrically and melodically. In this respect, The Rip doesn’t deviate far from the blueprint the band set for themselves on their debut Tuff Teef. Personally, ‘Punks’ on that album is the apogee of I Heart Hiroshima’s style, but nothing on The Rip scales similar heights. The fervent 6/8 rhythm of ‘South’ feels like it could go there, but ultimately ends up going nowhere. A paucity of ideas and a mulish desire to not alter the dynamics of the songs means that the band’s natural inclination towards repetition begins to wear rather rapidly.

Whether it’s Sekiden’s Mirko Vogel as producer who’s to blame, or illustrious mixer Andy Gill (of Gang of Four fame), The Rip is a cleaner affair, lacking the gritty, dirt-under-the-nails aesthetic that’s characterised I Heart Hiroshima up to this point. Granted it works for lead single ‘Shakeytown’, which admittedly has grown on me the more time I’ve spent with it, and the bouncy, up-stroke opener ‘Count Me In’. But on more aggressive tracks like ‘Ocean’, I just wish someone behind the control desk would've pushed the faders into the red. It’s actually a really good tune, probably the best on The Rip, and it’s a shame there aren’t more tracks like it.

Thankfully, what I Heart Hiroshima do retain on their second album is a penchant for oblique lyrical content, often stories of love – or lack thereof – veiled in enigmatic metaphors. I find it fascinating trying to decode whether Susie Patten and Matt Somers are singing about each other or with each other. “I took a chance on you/You blew me off again,” sings Patten on one of The Rip’s most melodic numbers, ‘The Corner’. Somers counters by singing, “You never see me coming/I found you twice that night.” I like to think there’s some unresolved tension brewing underneath the surface, anyway.

Perhaps it’s the second album hoodoo, but The Rip is a flat affair, and one that suffers from a lack of variety and killer, intractable hooks. Like I said at the start, there is – and still is – a lot to like about I Heart Hiroshima. But those elements just don’t coalesce on these 13 tracks.

by Dom Alessio