Hand-Me-Down Adventure - An Introduction to HMDA

​Hand-Me-Down Adventure

An Introduction to HMDA
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Apparently, Hand-Me-Down Adventure spawned from the ashes of a college rock/jam band. The band was sick of what they were doing and decide to start anew. Sam Brinkman, Travis Knight and Austin Davis are the members and they released a complete DIY effort entitled An Introduction to HMDA. Well there’s no ambiguity in that name.

There are four songs and I thought the tunes were a bit scattered but showcased a lot of potential. You can hear jam band elements in there but I was most reminded of the band Ween which is a band that is embraced by the jam band community. 

The recordings are about average for DIY with the usual culprits sticking out that gets musicians time and time again. Some of the songs are at different volume levels which isn’t great if you want to listen from beginning to end. The other dead give away is the drum sound but even more specifically the treatment of the cymbals which needed a LPF (low pass filter).

The band starts with “Branch For Me” which is the highlight by a pretty wide margin. It’s a great, original sounding song and I hope the band's future releases are based on a similar style. This is the song that reminded me most of Ween but the band still has their own thing going. The instrumental work is great with the bass catching most of my attention. That being said the vocals are what make the song. There are some catchy hooks which I would gladly revisit. 

“Somethin' About Some-Thing” felt more aligned with garage rock at least in terms of the grove. The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand came to mind. The bass was again a prominent feature of the song and the vocals were almost as effective as the first song. 

“Don't Miss Mine” is another solid song and has more of jam band type feel. The last song “Fading” felt superfluous to me. The production wasn't on par with the other songs and it felt like a rehearsal tape from a band like Hum or another like-minded alternative band.

As far as introductions go I can say I was happy to meet them. They showcase some potential so let's see where they will be on their next release. Great start.

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