Cut Off Your Hands To Release Second Album 'Hollow' On July 18

Indie punk-pop band Cut Off Your Hands have announced the release of their eagerly awaited second full-length album Hollow on July 18th. The album features the alternative radio hit “You Should Do Better” and the new single “Fooling No One”.

The band takes a plunge into retro power pop territory on Hollow, having been influenced by breakout ‘60s artists like The Byrds and Bob Dylan. Not to mention the Kiwi pop and paisley underground acts that ran with those very same influences in the ‘80s and ‘90s, including such acts as The Bats and Bird Nest Roys.

Hollow was self-produced at the Auckland abode of drummer Brent Harris’ parents, where the New Zealand natives previously recorded their debut EP in 2006. Everything from the moonlit melodies of Echo & the Bunnymen (“Nausea,” “Hollowed Out”) to the shimmering 12-string guitars of The Go-Betweens (“You Should Do Better”) can be heard in the light and dark shades of Hollow.

“Our first record was pretty eclectic, both lyrically and sonically,” explains front man Nick Johnston. “We were unsure of what we wanted to achieve with it, so we needed a producer like [former Suede guitarist] Bernard [Butler] to tie it all together. With Hollow, we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve.”

Among the band’s goals for their new direction was an expanded palette that incorporated all band members’ ideas, with Harris and bassist Phil Hadfield contributing a couple of cuts and guitarist Jonathan Lee colouring outside the lines of Johnston’s skeletal chords. Meanwhile, the latter decided to dull down his speaker-bludgeoning post-punk tendencies in favour of more nuanced, dynamic material.

Hollow marks the return for Cut Off Your Hands after a two-year break followed extensive touring across the UK, USA and Australia, including appearances at the Australian St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in 2009 and the festival’s New Zealand debut in 2010.