Not to be confused with either the ‘80s/’90s British indie act or the T.S. Eliot poem from which both bands presumably take their name, hard rocking Dutch four-piece-turned-trio The Hollow Men mark their first offering in five years with the self-released Food Chain. At seven tracks/30 minutes, it skirts the line between EP and full-length, but what’s more certain is The Hollow Men’s penchant for penning catchy, well-structured songs, as demonstrated here. Because of that “demonstration” feel, I’m liable to call Food Chain an EP, and in that case, it’s the band’s third, following 2004’s The Hollow Men and 2006’s Music for Every Occasion and Every Mood, and after the departure of their lead guitarist in 2008, no doubt the result of some restructuring of approach. There’s a clean ‘90s style in the arrangement of the vocals, which prove to be what carries over most of the songs as effectively as they are carried over, and though the production is rough, there’s an accessibility shining through the material nonetheless. It’s more hard rock than heavy rock, but there are some particularly riffy moments for those craving that, and guitarist/vocalist Remko, bassist Robbert and drummer/vocalist Martin manage to convey a range of atmospheres in a relatively short amount of space.

Almost immediately, though, the production is an issue. Remko and Martin have a clean vocal interplay and are skilled at crafting vocal harmonies and catchy hooks. That comes across perhaps most of all on the first two Food Chain tracks, “Euphoria” and “Top of the Food Chain,” but the music backing them has a much rougher feel, most especially in Martin’s drums, but also in Robbert’s bass, which is present enough, but lacking a thickness and warmth of feel it should have to go as well with Remko’s guitar, also thin of tone and lifelessly recorded on the otherwise energetic rocker “Out in the Cold.” That’s not easy to get past, but if there’s anything that’s going to do it, it’s the vocals, which show surprising Alice in Chains and Danzig influences on that track and prove to be The Hollow Men’s most potent asset throughout Food Chain. As the EP plays out, increasingly it’s the vocals I want to focus on and not the instrumentation, and because the trio aren’t playing pure riff/stoner rock, that’s fine – I mean, I don’t think in listening one is supposed to follow the riff to the exclusion of everything else – but I still want the songs to be heavier in the production than they are, and louder almost universally.

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