If you ever get a hankering for back-to-basics, DIY punk, allow me to introduce you to Hollowfield Lane and their debut, One Way. This has every element you need for a skateboard-rallying punk release: sneering vocals, crunching guitars, crashing drums and thumping bass. It may seems like a throwback, but Jeff “Joneser” Jones (bass/vocals), Ben “Buffalow” Dominguez (guitar/vocals) and Art C De Baca III (drums) deliver a refreshing and terse four-song collection that your ears can devour in less than 10 minutes. All songs are delivered at breakneck speed, with shotgun lyrics but a clear vision of what they are trying to achieve.
“Normal” is the opener and the first single, and it’s a pretty great rave up, which expresses quite clearly that being normal is completely overrated.
“It’s a perfect anthem in regard to the classic punk aesthetic of “no more trying to fit in” and wanting to “be who I am.”
This is followed by the equally powerful “One Way Ticket,” which reminds me of so many of my favorite ’80s punk songs it makes me dizzy—a hint of Minor Threat with a touch of some SoCal SST thrown in. The chorus is catchy as all hell, and at first I was surprised that this wasn’t the debut single.
The radio dial spins through ads and static at the start of aptly titled “Radio,” which is an ode to that very thing and not wanting to go anywhere without it. This could have been directly taken from a time when radio was all-important. It seems a bit anachronistic, but its sentiment is charming as all hell. “Crickets” is the finale of this tight, tense collection and, of course, it begins with the sound of chirping crickets. It is one of the most vitriolic numbers on the EP, and once more, this is the kind of song that SST would have drooled over back in the day.