The Hashi – “Family Jewels”
“Family Jewels” is a record of hard-hitting, unfiltered punk anthems released by Santa Ana’s The Hashi earlier this year. Though this is The Hashi’s first release to the masses, you can tell that a lot of heart and love and collaboration had been put to make this record a perfect three-course collection. “Family Jewels came from us being frustrated with two previous recording sessions that didn’t work out.” Guitarist and vocalist Matt Jay wrote to me, “It was our third attempt, and we were coming off a great streak of shows, and were playing really well together. We wanted to come out with something that would grab your attention right away. We also wanted the best quality possible. We went with our friend Alex from Pale Moon Audio, and think he captured the right sound for our E.P. Working with him was fun, and he really brought out the best in us.” The record’s overall content speaks of frustrations in relationships from romantic to familial to band-related, set to high-BPM beats and grungy tones. Read on to hear a bit about each track in the release!
The release starts off with “Who Will You Call”, a punchy, riffy start to this punk-tastic prix-fixe. “I was dealing with a bad relationship at that time.” Jay wrote to me, “I remember being in my room and writing all of it from start to finish. Within an hour it was done, and I was in shock and thrilled at the same time”. Fans of early punk sounds and those needing to vent about a toxic ex are going to love this first song. It’s a song to mentally (or physically, if you have access to it) break some furniture and walls to. The track allows the listener to vent, to throw around, and is a perfect appetizer for the next track.
“Too Hard” speaks of letting go of the past, with overlapping melodic vocals feeling like a final cry of acceptance of moving on. “It was a very difficult song to write, it took a few months until it finally came together…The song has a lot of aggression built into it, and it was a way to release what I was feeling.” You can definitely see this aggressive, bullish tone in the guitar riffs and especially the bridge of this song. There is something about hearing “You’ve been a bitch, I don’t know if you’re coming back/I’ll wait for you” that immediately takes me back to jumping around to a live band.
The EP’s title track, “Family Jewels”, wraps up this grungy release like the end of a set on Punk Island: hearing this song at the end of a long, sweaty day gives you the motivation to go back out there and skank ‘till your heart’s content. This has to be my favorite in this release because of the energy throughout the track and how you can truly feel that this is a The Hashi song from the early punk-inspired vocals and energetic riffs. The lyrical content, though taken from Matt Jay’s personal life, can really resonate with those navigating growing up and dealing with a family that feels like it is falling apart. Combined with the jump-inducing instrumentals makes for a fantastic track to play as loud as you possibly can in your room or car for that rush of punk everyone needs in their life.
Be sure to check out this release and follow The Hashi on all social media to stay up to date with their new releases! Be sure to also check back here for our interview with them this month!