Hotel Wrecking City Traders
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Hotel Wrecking City Traders

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | SELF

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | SELF
Band Rock Alternative

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"'Black Yolk' (2008)"

BLACK YOLK (2008) // REVIEWS
TERRASCOPE (UK)
http://www.terrascope.co.uk
Reviewed by: Simon Rivers, Reviews Editor. August, 2008.
Those of you, who like to bathe themselves in the sonic waters of The Stooges, Mudhoney, etc, should definitely get hold of “Black Yolk”, the debut album from Hotel Wrecking City Traders. Hailing from Australia, the band have that fuzzed up sound perfected, the song deranged slices of noise heaven that pummel you into a grinning pool of pulped flesh. The other thing that finally strikes you about the album is that it is an instrumental, something that takes a while to sink in; the riffs so powerful and fluid that you don’t even notice the lack of words within the songs.

BLUNT MAGAZINE (Australia) - Issue #73
August, 2008
Review By Ash Easton
9/10
If Thor was the hero in an apocalyptic action movie, Hotel Wrecking City Traders would be his entrance music. Black Yolk, recorded in their hometown of Melbourne by the incomparable Neil Thomason (My Disco), is a faultless offering of dirty stoner doom in the same vein as compadres Spider Goat Canyon. The instrumental duo (drums and guitar) wind around each other like a wily desert snake around your leg; it..'s hard to tell who..'s leading as their razor-edged drone hums and rumbles through 6 short shifting, mesmerizing tracks. Like Kyuss on a bad trip.

THE DWARF (Australia) http://www.thedwarf.com.au
July, 2008
Review By: Sammy W
You know those bits on Young Team when Mogwai build up softly layered guitars then absolutely detonate a song with big dirty riffs and distortion? Well Black Yolk, the debut album from Melbourne psychedelic rockers Hotel Wrecking City Traders is sort of like a really grimy and stripped-back version of that, minus the all the wussy soft bits. Before I put on the disc, I read that the album was mastered by Nao Anzai who has worked with fellow Melbournians Laura and I was half expecting the thing open with some to some delicate washes of sound and swirls of post-rock drama. It didn't.Opening track Cup Weekend Murders doesn..'t waste any time with those sorts of subtleties. It..'s just an extremely crunchy guitar, a loosely strung bass, a thoroughly smashed-in drumkit and very big riff that gets faster and more intense until it eventually collapses and ends. When I see that the next two tracks are entitled the The Lakeshore Stranglers and Hanging Rope I begin to get the feeling that these guys aren..'t about to break out the acoustic guitars and strings any time soon. The Lakeshore Stranglers starts off with a two note riff that..'s slowed down and stretched out to a drone.Once the drums kick in the riff starts bending and changing as it reverberates out and by about the two minute mark the song has sped up and an even deeper, rumbling distortion kicks in that really does start to conjure up images of a deranged strangler stalking you on the lakeshore. Hanging Rope opens with probably the most nuanced moment of the album with its interesting time signatures ethereal use of delay, before it building up into another massive distortion squall. The rest of the album didn't seem as focused and powerful these first three homages to murder. Eavesdropper and Rolling Instruments are two stoner-jams that go off on some cool tangents but at twelve and ten minutes respectively they both tend to outstay their welcome. Pagoda mines the same territory as The Lakeshore Stranglers, but just doesn..'t seem to pack as much of a punch (probably because my tolerance for a full on distortion assault was stretched thin by the previous two tracks). That being said, if you..'re looking for some crunchy, post-rocky stuff that gets straight to the point and will scare the shit out of your grandmother you can do a lot worse than this.

THE METAL FORGE (Australia) http://www.themetalforge.com
Reviewed by Justin Donnelly
How many instruments does it take to create a massive rock and roll noise? ?Well, when it comes to Melbourne based outfit Hotel Wrecking City Traders, the answer is apparently two!?Comprising of guitarist Toby ..'Wrecker..' Matthews, and brother/drummer Ben ..'Wrecker..' Matthews, Hotel Wrecking City Traders have been making some big heavy noises in the underground live scene for the last couple of years, and are now ready to let people experience their unique sound in the safety of their own homes in the shape of their debut full-length effort ..'Black Yolk..' (The follow-up to last years self-titled E.P.).?The opening track ..'Cup Weekend Murders..' (Which is also the shortest at three and a half minutes) is perhaps the best example of what the band has to offer on the album, with a sound that..'s somewhat similar to what rock behemoth Karma To Burn were producing back in their heyday. Toby..'s massive riffs are quite literally killer in both their power and their impact, while Matthews..' drumming is totally rock solid, with just the odd fill here and there being thrown in to keep the mix in - Assorted Media


"EP (2007) Reviews"

ROCKUS ZINE (Australia) - March 07' Hotel Wrecking City Traders Hotel Wrecking City Traders Independent Review by Marc English Melbourne is better known lately for its art rock and indie pop (what the fuck is that?) bands of late so when a two piece instrumental act such as Hotel Wrecking City Traders rears its doom/sludge inspired head you have to sit up and take notice. A fully instrumental offering, this debut EP is worth more than one play and brings to mind bands twice its size, Hotel Wrecking City Traders being a two piece - guitar and drums only. Heavy on riffs and halftime beats the debut EP sits somewhere between Brant Bjork and the Bros and Clutch without sounding as weak or diluted as you may think from only two instruments. Track three Get High Motherfucker is a standout flat-out assault punctuated by a sonic refrain before hitting the power thrusts of power chord Nirvana before paying homage to the stoner rock gods with the track Danklicker. The EP ends with the 8 minute 43 second track confusingly titled 7 Minutes of Tape that starts with a sound that is rooted in sludge-come-doom styles that make even the war in Iraq seem like a pre-schoolers happy playground before moving into territory more reminiscent of early Soundgarden circa Louder Than Love and the freestyle sonic efforts of Nirvana. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ DESERT ROCK.COM (France) - March 07 Formation bicéphale australienne animée par Ben à la batterie et Toby à la guitare, ces nouveaux venus dans le monde du stoner bien barré débarquent avec une première autoproduction totalement instrumentale. Les tordus qui hantent ces pages feraient bien d'aller voir sur leur myspace ce qui s'y trame car ce groupe attiré par les côtés psychédéliques, sludge et doom du style fomentent des compostions du plus bel effet qui ne sont pas sans me rappeler Om par l'aspect oppressant dans lequel elles évoluent. Le premier des six titres présents sur cette sortie, ' The Porch' fait tourner un riff simple durant plus de quatre minutes en diversifiant ça et là les lignes de batterie dans un style qui n'est pas sans rappeler 'Gardenia'. Suit 'Massolli' dans un registre voisin, mais avec force-insistance sur les cymbales et une guitare très saturée. On passe à 'Get High Motherfucker' qui démarre à fond de cinquième avant de baisser les tempi pour s'aventurer dans un style nettement plus doom et vicié avant de laisser la place à 'Sutter Cane' qui part aux antipodes tant il semble léger après la litanie qui l'a précédé ; qu'on ne s'y trompe pas non plus, ce morceau demeure dans un style bien tordu même s'il s'achève de manière rapide avec son martèlement dans la plus grande tradition du schlack-boum-schlack que les keupons affectionnent par-dessus tout. L'avant-dernière plage plonge une fois encore dans les tréfonds du côté obscur et ses riffs nous ramonent carrément la boîte crânienne…on n'est pas ici pour rigoler. '7 Minutes Of Tape', qui porte un nom mensonger puisqu'il faudra attendre un peu plus pour voir s'achever cette composition dont la genèse est un larsen qui ravira vos voisins lorsque vous l'enclencherez avec le vu-mètre dans le rouge, s'adresse aux amateurs de sensations fortes et hypnotiques en condensant les aspects les plus inabordables des autres morceaux de la présente plaque. Un must quoi ! Mis à part le son volontairement grailleux et parfois sourd, ce premier jet devraient rapidement conquérir son public. Vivement la suite ! Contact : www.hotelwreckers.com _________________________________________________________________________________________________ DAREDEVIL RECORDS (Germany) - March 07 HOTEL WRECKING CITY TRADERS - EP (2007) HWCT use minimal instrumentation to create maximum Rock n' Roll. Predominantly instrumental, the band did a great mix of Stoner / Heavy and Groove Rock. After the typical opener THE PORCH, don't understand me wrong – this song kicks ass, the mighty MASSOLLI is following. A great track with a good forward punch! This band is loud, heavy and with a lot of groove. My personal highlight is the Kyuss-like track DANKLICKER with a mighty guitar riff and impressive power. And with the rolling 7 MINUTES OF TAPE they great an unique statement for all the bands who will be called Stoner / Doom or Groove Rock! Normally I don't like instrumental music, but this band has a great power and cool ideas which get not boring after some listening! The musicians Ben and Toby Wrecker did a great job on this EP and all is only recorded with guitar and drums only! I'm really impressed that this band create such a power! HWCT are based in Melbourne, Australia and are with this release on the top of the groove rock bands! Join them – they rule! Music: Instrumental Rock Sound: 8 Music: 9 Info: 6 Songs / 32 minutes Jochen _________________________________________________________________________________________________ LOCAL ANAESTHETIC ZINE (Australia) - Feb 07. Hotel Wr - Assorted Media


Discography

'EP' (2007)
‘Black Yolk’ (2008)
'Somer/Wantok’ 7 Inch Vinyl (2010)
All through Bro Fidelity records (Australia).

HWCT will soon release their first collaborative effort - featuring Gary Arce (Yawning Man/Ten East). An offer from Gary that eventuated from HWCT supporting Ten East on tour in Australia - Due for release May 2011 on Bro Fidelity/Cobraside Distribution.

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Bio

HWCT have been invited to play shows with the likes of: Eagle Twin (USA), Earthless (USA), Om (USA), Holy Sons (USA), Lichens (USA), Ten East (USA), Black Cobra (USA), Zeni Geva (Japan), , Monarch (Fr), Grey Daturas (Aust), Winnebago Deal (UK), Nunchukka Superfly (Aust), Budd (Aust), ) The Hard-Ons (Aust), Electric Eel Shock (Jpn), Ryokuchi (Jpn), My Disco (Aust),

Ben Wrecker also joined Winnebago Deal (UK) on drums as a last minute stand-in on their debut tour of Australia in 2008 . Winnebago Deal returned to Australia again the following year with HWCT in support once again.