The Hectors

The Hectors have a sense of humor to go along with their pop chops, which is only natural when you consider the L.A. quartet has a boyfriend-girlfriend songwriting team, influences ranging from the syrupy to Fugazi and a drummer who wanted to name the band the Lollipop Guild.

They've done an interview (of sorts) to promote today's release of their second EP, "Sometimes They Collide." Watch it here and take notes.

"It's amazing what we don't have in common," singer-guitarist Corinne Dinner says of the foursome that began in songwriting and recording lessons with beau Jim Saunders (bass) and expanded to include Robert Bonilla (guitar) and Erik Greene (drums). "The EP has a little bit of everything, from hooks to sludge."

It has the poppy "Cold Star" (reminds me of Letters to Cleo), an anxious ditty called "Carol and Sanford" -- "about a really shy Bonnie and Clyde," Dinner says -- and the brooding "I Drove All the Way From Bridgeport to Make It With You," a line lifted from the Woody Allen movie "Stardust Memories." The latter song was also on the Hectors' first EP, which the band isn't sharing anymore, because, well, "none of us were very happy with it."

They're in a better mood now. They will celebrate "Sometimes They Collide" with a show tonight.

See the Hectors, along with Radars to the Sky and Tigers Can Bite You, as part of the "Let's Independent" one-year anniversary bill tonight at Boardners. It's a free show presented by local blog Radio Free Silver Lake. - LA Times

It’s the kind of EP that does what an EP should: spark intrigue for a band’s future recordings. L.A.’s The Hectors are an unusually well-assembled band of musicians, bringing clearly different ideas to the songwriting effort. Their sound is saddled with the pop and anthemic prowess of grrrl rock and the catchiness of Pavement, while it portions slightly sinister flavors like the thrust and mud of the grunge era and the rhythm of post-punk. An appropriately regal indie rock team supports this ambitious and refreshingly inspired debut: producer Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Brian Jonestown Massacre) and engineer Mark Chalecki (Silversun Pickups, Earlimart).

Throughout Sometimes They Collide, guitars strobe like brilliant pulses of emotion and a bass throbs thickly within the unrelenting energy from the drums (all recorded in an apartment — hello noise violation). The five-song EP moves quickly and singer/guitarist Corinne Dinner’s vocals stand up alongside frontwoman monoliths like an early Liz Phair, circa Whip-Smart. Dinner has a gritty, infectious vigor that’s assertive and poised with a breathy, amber tone.

The EP surprisingly eludes romance and speaks on the conventions of being a dreamer and searching for the meaning behind life’s many voids. Dinner’s lyrics yearn and testify, touching on the subjects we want to hear when we’re done fussing with love.

The guitar noodling shouldn’t fit as well as it does, winding in very achy Interpol-like doldrums that are then pinned into four-minute power pop verse/chorus structures. It’s simply another item on a list of things that seem like they would — dare one say — collide: Dinner’s youthful glowing vocals, unexpected mid-song tempo bipolarizing, hugely aggressive guitar mood swings that produce a wall-of-sound treatment in the way of My Bloody Valentine.

Here, drawing from the right sources, the foursome are a symbol for competence meets catchiness meets inspiration. It’s an aptly titled debut: Sometimes They Collide — and make a huge impact. - Performer Magazine

Here's a five-songer from L.A.'s Hectors, all indie-joyful bubbles of Britpoppy gaze popping on waves of Pavement-Youth distortion. Bass and drums roll steady, grooving under the crush and glitter of the guitar, while the female vocals rise above, dynamic and controlled against the oceanic rush. There's a touch of the Sunday's, but without the annoying vocals, and a little of the Bunnymen as well, but fuzzed out with a love of Dinosaur Jr. flashback. It's sweet without being too pretty, and upbeat and driving without being too poppy or predictable. - Big Takeover Magazine

Most bands that embrace "shoegaze" as a self-descriptor generally play crappy progressive music - songs that start with a lone, cold-sounding guitar and grow, over seventeen achingly boring minutes, into some cacophonist Mogwai ripoff. Christ. Fortunately, The Hectors are hip to the shoegaze game, and brazenly combine the best elements of that failing genre (yup, there are a couple of those) with a mainstream rock sensibility that make their songs both edgy and easy to enjoy. Having just released Sometimes They Collide, their second ep, for Tarantism Records, The Hectors are getting all antsy in their pantsy and ready to prove that, though shoegaze has no future (and thank God for it), that doesn't mean that we can't get something decent out of it before it goes.

One of shoegaze's most potent (and worthwhile) attributes is its distinctive guitar sound, which characteristically starts delicately, pinpointing notes that hang in the air, then gradually builds into a wail, screeching with distortion and epiphany, thundering and glorious. For most bands, this takes an achingly long time. The Hectors consistently do it in under five minutes, and with actual melodies and honest-to-goodness dynamics. What a rare find. Rick parker (BRMC, Dandy Warhols) buries frontwoman Corinne Dinner's vocals deep in the mix, accentuating the depth of her voice but also losing many of her lyrics. The loss is negligible, since The Hectors' fierce guitar layering rightly deserves it be the focus - album highlight "A Million Fingers" showcases the interplay between lead Robert Bonilla's and Dinner's guitars, dynamic and ominous.

Only The Hectors' second release, Sometimes They Collide is impressive, and puts the band in good position to get snapped up by a serious label. With strong hooks and charismatic guitar work, Sometimes They Collide brings to mind a gentler Silversun Pickups (a band that Mr. Mammoth is a big fan of). The Hectors have successfully fleshed out the skeleton of shoegaze into a serious pop force, and future work from this band is sure to be as enjoyable and expansive as this EP is. - Mr. Mammoth

Some of you long-time readers may know that I've never expressed a great interest in L.A.'s music scene, despite the fact that I live here. Aside from a select few -- HEALTH, Foreign Born, CokeDance -- I'm not too down with L.A.'s pickings.

That being said, with every passing day, every new discovery, my opinion softens and degrades more and more. Indeed, Los Angeles has quite a few cool bands ... quite a few awesome bands, for that matter, and the Hectors fall into one of those categories, no doubt.

The quartet got its name from a 17th century London gang, notorious for their aggressive and mean-spirited vandalism and "hooliganism." The Hectors would accurately describe a Sex Pistols knock-off punk outfit, then, but maybe not these four (I'm not knocking the name! I like it! Just saying it's not the first thing I would've thought they'd be called!) The new EP, Sometimes They Collide, is out on Tarantism Records, and is certainly worth checking out. A meticulous, grandiose infusion of shoe-gaze, power-pop, and something grittier ... maybe some Radiohead-esque wall of sound? Or Pixies alt-rock? That "X Factor" is the group's making point, I'd say. Check out a couple tracks below, but be sure to support these guys! - Bibabidi

The love is sincere. The Hector's EP Sometimes They Collide is the soundtrack to the Los Angeles I dreamt of before actually moving to to Los Angeles. Finding yourself on the side of the road at midnight with an overheating engine is enough to take the mystique out of any city, I guess. When my car actually runs, Sometimes They Collide is the perfect listening music for those late night, post-pie jaunts though Hollywood, provided you keep said jaunts EP length. Equal parts Karen O and Autolux, The Hectors bring Southern Californian sun-baked glitter glamour to traditional pop melodies. Light enough to be carried away on an unseasonably warm spring breeze and interesting enough for repeat listens, Sometimes They Collide serves as a solid reminder that that good music might be as close as your own backyard. - Confessions of a Would-Be Hipster

Okay all my fans of the shoegazey pop records out there, this one's for you. Sometimes They Collide is the most recent EP from Los Angeles band The Hectors. Named after a 17th century London gang notorious for their recklessness, The Hectors are anything but reckless. Their music is built upon a rock solid rhythm section surrounded in shimmering, epic, reverb drenched guitars, all topped off by the powerful soaring vocals of Corinne Dinner. Produced by the band themselves, the record was mixed by Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dandy Warhols, Brian Jonestown Massacre) and mastered by engineer Mark Chalecki (Silversun Pickups, Earlimart, Great Northern) , the sound is crisp, melodic and powerful and one you'll want to play loud for sure. I know I do. - Bag of Songs

The Hectors, a Los Angeles-based quartet, released a 5-song EP of well-crafted indie pop tracks, and it reached my ears just in time for me to drive around listening to it on this summery day.

The band definitely puts its best foot forward on the opening track of the EP. “Cold Star” is a knock-out track. The guitar goes from jittery post-punk to melodic shoegazing while a forceful drum and bass combo and soaring vocals from Corinne Dinner give the song it’s edge. “I Drove All the Way to Bridgeport to Make It with You”, a twinkling, transcendent pop song with an explosion of sound at the end, shows that the band has more than just one trick up their sleeves. The Hectors are a solid addition to LA’s music scene and Sometimes They Collide proves that they have a lot of potential. I’m looking forward to seeing what the band does next. - Music For Kids Who Can't Read Good

The Hectors remind me of just about everybody, as their influences read like a history book of indie rock. I hear traces of The Cure, The Smiths, 10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M., The Pixies, and well... you get the drift. It's all here.

Please don't mistake me. I'm not saying they're just another 80s throwback, anything but that. The band doesn't rehash, they skillfully emulate and translate, and they do it oh so well. Lead singer/guitarist Corinne Dinner has one of those gripping, strong-yet-endearing female voices that gets immediately under your skin. Add to that an anxious dual guitar attack from guitarist Robert Bonilla, and you've got a recipe for infectiously catchy indie pop that seems timeless in its scope. Was it released in 1985 or just last week? It doesn't matter, because these five tunes will surely find a happy home in your player. - Mish Mash Music

Long, droning riffs and walls of sound layer Sometimes They Collide, the spaced-out EP from L.A.'s The Hectors. Blending dreamy guitars with simple melody — a concept underestimated by most bands — is The Hectors' specialty. Tracks like "A Million Fingers" and "I Drove All the Way from Bridgeport to Make It with You" are filled with the drama of shoegaze along with the optimism of indie pop.
For fans of My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Raveonettes. - My Big Mouth Strikes Again