As Hockey’s “Song Away” would tell you, they make truthful songs over eighties grooves, but their music goes further than that – more diverse, but a good start in trying to describe their unique sound.

Hockey started their musical adventure as a two-piece. Jerm Reynolds (Jeremy, but nobody calls him that) and Ben Grubin got together when the two attended college together in Redlands, California. After moving to Spokane, Washington (on a whim) in hope of finding new band mates, they soon re-located to Portland (adding drummer Anthony, and later Brian on bass). Although Hockey calls Portland home when they aren’t spreading the gospel from the west coast to the UK, the band members hail from every corner of the United States and their musical style is the sum of their disparate parts.

The guys from Hockey are fun loving, laid back friends with nomadic tendencies (too edgy to be considered hippies), and the music is a reflection of their personality.  Hockey seamlessly weaves over and through genres with a powerful brand of soulful dance-rock -  infusing their tracks with all sorts of heavy textural sounds and strange samples. Mostly resembling “indie” on most of their songs, singer Ben Grubin’s punchy one-liners (and great hooks) make Hockey even harder to peg. Never shy of intelligence or sharing his thoughts, Ben Grubin’s lyrics often tell witty stories of past experience, often wrenched out with his raspy (sometimes gutteral) howl – adding spices of soul into their highly infectious melodies and up-beat rhythms.

Hockey talks about what they know, where they have been and what is on their minds, which seem to be fairly simpatico across the board – one of the main reasons that Hockey’s style seems so genuine – they are musicians on a mission to have their stories heard. After the release of their “Mind Chaos” EP, Hockey headed back into the studio to cut a full-length album of the same name, scheduled for release in the first half of 2009. The chaos inside the minds of the Hockey team must run deep, as they decided to stick with the title, shedding some light on what inspires their crazy brand of “New Wave Soul.”

Hockey are constantly hitting the road taking their game to venues across the US and the UK (and beyond), check out www.myspace.com/hockey for updates on their travels and tribulations.

Words and photos by Jamie Newman

Hockey – Too Fake