Oslo, Norway, noise-rock trio Hammok are working their way towards the release of their second sonics-pushing LP, When Does This Place Become Our Scene. While the album is due out in June, today (April 1st) they want you to feel the full weight of their latest song, “Gooning for Free.”
The tune — which is being premiered through Revolver — arrives about a month on from first single “The Scene.” With “Gooning for Free,” the band quickly latch onto a deep, punitive, cyclical thrum — Ole Benjamin Thomassen’s bass corrosion and Ferdinand Aasheim’s kick-you-in-crotch backbeats supporting vocalist-guitarist Tobias Osland acidic skewering of influencer culture and algorithmic servitude (“Feel it/Grow it/Got to feed desire”). And, yes, they appreciate the irony of promoting themselves online.
“‘Gooning for Free’ is about online hustling and the culture of accepted ‘selling out,’” the band explain in a joint statement. “It is a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that these days we are all expected to be a part of this. This need to be desired and to always be promoting to sell plays a huge part in society. This sentiment is a big part of the song.”
A black-and-white, performance-style video of Hammok performing “Gooning for Free” can be seen up above.
The album, meanwhile, is further teased as mixing “the vivacious energy of hardcore” with “forward-thinking punk.” It sees release June 5th through Sargent House Records. It can be pre-ordered here.