While only 10 minutes long, Hip Hatchet's
Coward's Luck brings with it more emotional weight than many full-fledged LPs. Recorded in just a day, this little EP feels completely instinctual, like they just picked up their instruments and just
went. The result rings honest and heartfelt; a folk album that is as personable as anything, charming and passionate. Philippe Bronchtein has a deep, full voice and his melodies are as beautiful as his pain. Three tracks of hanging on to memories but always losing them,
Coward's Luck is heartbreaking.
The guy's a skilled guitarist, no doubt. Closing track "Just Like An Old Friend" is pure The Tallest Man On Earth; all feeling and power in those strums, squeezing every ounce of energy in those notes. It's a smooth and poignant song, but loud and forceful in its message:
"The world that I want so used to little / hates me 'cause I haven't learned to let things go" Bronchtein sings with such brevity, it tears you apart.
"The minutes and the distance make you feel like you're alone" is the album's great thesis: this is a lonely album, sung by a lonely person, for all of us lonely people.
