Hollow Fortyfives - Weekender (Baby Robot Records, 2020)

Los Angeles rock & roll power trio Hollow Fortyfives understand the value of a break from the day-to-day grind of modern living. With their new EP, Weekender, the trio have created a rollicking, hard-hitting ode to time off; a soundtrack not simply suited to, but crafted to incite house parties, late nights, impulsive trips and the specific type of debauchery that inevitably creates camaraderie. Weekender is a record that is meant to be played loud, and its sub-twenty minute runtime ensures it’ll be over before the cops show up. “We didn’t make Weekender for people to sit and listen to,” says drummer/vocalist Travis Corsaut. “We want something that makes them want to get up, party, dance, do something, anything.”

Hollow Fortyfives, comprised of Corsaut, bassist/vocalist Brett Incardone, and guitarist/vocalist Lucas Renberg, take their sonic cues from the rock & roll heroes of the sixties, blending those influences with a no-frills garage rock mentality and a fierce punk ethos. After releasing their debut album, Strange Times, in 2018, the band wasted no time in heading back to the studio to write and record Weekender, enlisting producer Diego Ruelas to help bring their songs to life after catching his attention at a show in LA. Most of Weekender was recorded at East West Studios, though vocals were recorded in guerrilla after-hours sessions at Capitol Studios in Hollywood.

Although Renberg is Hollow Fortyfives primary songwriter, Weekender features songs written by each of the band’s members, their disparate influences fusing into each other to create a cohesive record that still has the ability to surprise listeners. “We definitely reap the benefits of having three songwriters,” says Corsaut. “It rounds us out more as a group and keeps us from getting stuck in a rut or writing the same thing over and over. The three of us are all very different in our lives and influences, but when we bring them together, we’re able to mold those ideas into our sense of what Hollow Fortyfives is as a group.”

While Weekender’s sonic palette is crafted as a devil-may-care respite from daily life, Hollow Fortyfives aren’t ones to shy away from thematic depth. Throughout the record, the band explores concepts of choice paralysis, social inequality, and the fallout after experiencing trauma. The record’s leadoff track, “Nowhere,” is a punchy garage-pop track full of distorted guitars and pounding drums, while Renberg’s lyrics are a sendup of a stagnant society that always wants more but never takes the steps to achieve it. On the energetic dance-punk cut, “Get Out,” Renberg calls out a class structure aimed to maintain the status quo and how that feeds into a cycle that leads to many feeling stuck.

Elsewhere on the record, the band dives into more lighthearted concepts, such as on “Lemonade,” a hazy track whose lustful lyrics are mirrored by the song’s carnal structure that culminates in a sputtering, fuzzed-out guitar solo. “Fickle Heart” finds the band veering into jangly power-pop territory while Corsaut sings about harnessing life’s brief moments of peace and clarity.

Hollow Fortyfives formed in the Summer of 2013, when Renberg and Incardone invited Corsaut to jam with them before he was scheduled to move to China to become an au pair. By the end of one afternoon, the trio had fleshed out a handful of songs, and soon after began booking shows and garnering the enthusiastic support of their community. Corsaut canceled his move across the world and the trio began writing, touring and recording nonstop, releasing their debut self-titled cassette in 2015, followed by an EP, Summertime Psychosis, later that year, a series of singles in 2016, and their debut LP, Strange Times in early 2018. For years, Hollow Fortyfives have shown that they’re a band who refuse to stop. Weekender carries on in that tradition, though this time around they’ve learned that it’s okay to take a break from the grind, if just for a weekend.

Weekender is out March 6th on Baby Robot Records.