The best thing about Greg Hoy’s – Cacophony 1 is knowing there is a second helping coming after it, but not before I got an earful of this EP and delved into more of Hoy’s work to get me there. If the Bay Area has more rock ‘n roll secrets of the same class order, then I have yet to come across any with material as likeable as the songs this platter is serving. The opening and title song to get the ball rolling is the most excellent “Cacophony” to lead the energy down the right path and keep you hooked for the whole batch of top shelf songs.
GREG HOY: https://thegreghoy.com/
I wanted to play it over again before continuing, and a good song always does that to anyone. If I were Hoy and choosing what to release as a single, I would put the opener in the next running for a video. However, the next track on the EP – “Messed Up” is the first single and video released from it and it stars Septymber and Anna Copa Cabanna. The video for this song is done extremely well, with the whole lockdown feel and the framed pictures go brilliantly with the words and music.
“Here Comes the Light” grabs me as the token quiet song among the 6, but it is also growing to be one of my favorite Hoy tracks, as I keep returning to this one more than any others on Cacophony 1. The only thing about that is I think it might change as I get more into a few others, I just do not know which one rocks me the most yet. I just know this one glows the most and make me feel the best when it hits me, not that I am skipping any of them, it just had an edge at the time of writing about it.
“Move Along” is doing the business right behind the former song, as it changes up the whole mood of the EP with a flawless low register vocal that works wonders by the time it is over. I find it to be one of the most contagious songs I have heard in 2020, but the year is not over yet, so I am reserving it along with others on my short list. Either way you take this in, it is worth it as much as the rest of these terrific pieces of Hoy’s heart and soul.
DEEZER: https://www.deezer.com/us/album/174149462?autoplay=true
There is much more to chew on with “Can You Take It?” asking the dubious question about how you feel after so many months of the pandemic and what it does to your patience levels alone. The uncivil revolting this past year will never be forgotten, and Hoy takes a crack at chanting about it, with a video to go with it as the second single release to promote Cacophony 1. This video clip has been airing for about a month behind the first one, and the EP closes with the studious “Do Unto Others” and class is dismissed but looking forward to the rest of the songs in this two part release.
Jodi Marxbury