Leeds-based braincrunchers HAWK EYES are celebrating the onslaught of fine reviews for their brand new ‘Ideas’ album by going on tour with Andrew WK. The mini-run of dates visits London, Glasgow and Manchester in April – full dates below – and kick starts the next leg of a campaign which has already seen ‘Ideas’ snaffle up KKKKK in Kerrang!, 9/10 in Classic Rock, 5/5 in Artrocker, 4/5 in Q, 4/5 in Terrorizer…we could go on, but that would be wrong. Heeere is the full backstory…

A frankly ferocious fierce panda one sheet
The Band: HAWK EYES
The Release: ‘IDEAS’
The Formats: COMPACT DISC ALBUM & DOWNLOAD
The Label: fierce panda
The Catalogue Number: NONG 73CD
The Release Date: MARCH 26TH 2012

The Tracklisting: 1 ‘Witch Hunt’. 2 ‘Skyspinners’. 3 ‘Yes Have Some’. 4 ‘Headstrung’. 5 ‘You Deserve A Medal’. 6 ‘Hollywood Sweatshop’. 7 ‘The Meeting’. 8 ‘Milk Hog’. 9 ‘Kiss This’. 10 ‘Bears By The Head’. 11 ‘Bees’.

The Truth: HAWK EYES are from Leeds, Englandshire. They consist of Paul Astick (vocals / guitar), Rob Stephens (guitar), Ryan Clark (bass) and new boy Steve Wilson (drums), and have done so in some form or another since 2005.

One of those previous so-called ‘forms’ was Chickenhawk, whose gruesomely complex ‘Modern Bodies’ album of 2010 cheerily brutalised a not-so-innocent generation of grumpy grunged-up kids as they toured the known universe with Alexisonfire, We Are The Ocean and The Computers. Unfortunately all this cheery brutalisation came at a cost – a good doctor told singer Paul that his traumatic vocal stylings were doing unspeakable damage to his throat. He had to calm it down or get the heck off the back of the rock bus. So he calmed down - relatively speaking.

The end of 2011 saw the renamed and reconstructed HAWK EYES foursome setting out their stall for future ever-so-slightly-mellower chaos with a nomination for Best Hard Rock Act at the Artrocker awards, touring fun with Turbowolf, The James Cleaver Quartet and Ginger Wildheart (though not all at the same time, you understand) and the release of the five-track ‘Mindhammers’ EP on Brew Records, a manically precise fusion of ferocious melodies and vivacious riffs which spewed forth comparisons with Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Alice In Chains and the epically heavy monstersound of Faith No More.

All extremely true, and all very indicative of a band growing up and rolling with the melodic punches. And the ‘Mindhammers’ template is refined and rewired on ‘Ideas’, HAWK EYES’ debut album which is sleek and modern and hardcore and suitably post-post-everything, but also cosmic and mischievous and never averse to (ab)using a classic riff here or there, as you may well expect from a band of whom it was once said: “HAWK EYES will swoop down and rip out your intestines through your nostrils.”

Go get an eyeful of HAWK EYES here…

07/4/12 - Basingstoke, Bang Bar (Silkfest)
10/4/12 - Leeds, O2 academy (w/ Skindred + Therapy?)
12/4/12 - London, HMV Forum (w/ Andrew WK)
13/4/12 - Manchester, Academy 1 (w/ Andrew WK)
14/4/12 - Glasgow Garage (w/ Andrew WK)
06/5/12 - London, Purple Turtle (Camden Crawl)
11/5/12 - Brighton, Concorde (Great Escape)
10/6/12 - Huddersfield, Parish (In the Hudd festival)
06/7/12 - Shepton Mallet, Bath & West showground (NASS festival)
04/8/12 - Derby, Peak District National Park (Y-Not festival)

www.hawkeyesmusic.com
www.facebook.com/HawkEyesMusic