Album review: HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT’S ADEQUATE – The Confidence Trick

June 18th, 2022 by jason

Bandcamp [Release date 29.07.22]

Here at GRTR! we are big fans of Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate, enjoying what the band use to describe themselves as genre defying music. They have a prog rock basis but then wander off down many musical roads including electronica, classical, alt rock and more.

Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are Malcolm Galloway and Mark Gatland with Kathryn Thomas on flute. All three contributed to songwriting on the album. The album’s overall theme is one of cognitive errors, particularly overconfidence, and our repeated failure to learn from history.

One of the longest tracks on the album ‘Refuge’ is an instrumental inspired by Malcolm’s great-grandmother’s experiences of being hunted by the Nazis. As the band’s website sagely notes “the language that was used to dehumanise populations before the Second World War is still used to dehumanise people today. We keep saying never again, and we keep making the same mistakes.”

They seem to excel at these long instrumental pieces that get a story or theme over with the same effect as a vocal track. The music ebbs and flows, from uplifting piano and string sections, through to darker, bleaker passages, this piece of music is superb and one for headphones. ‘Ark’ of their last album is another fine example of the band’s epic historically based instrumentals.

‘Perky Pat’ and ‘World War Terminus’ are inspired by SF writer Philip K Dick novels. The electronica instrumental ‘Perky Pat’ refers to a doll with a glamorous but fictional lifestyle used to distract from reality, whilst ‘World War Terminus’ was another “war to end all wars”. The latter features sublime guitar chords and riffs – shades of Pink Floyd at times.

The title track is another that delves into Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree territory. The mid-section is particularly sublime on the listener’s ears. ‘Lava Lamprey’ is an odd one missing stop/start jazz beats and piano but it still fits well into the album’s overall style and feel. Heck, they even have a bit of electro pop on ‘All Empires Fall’ backing the main spoken word part of the song.

Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate are one of progressive music’s best bands you have most likely never heard. Rectify that if that is the case as ‘The Confidence Trick’ is their finest musical offering to date. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)