Dublin-based four piece Hassle Merchants are a band that have been around for quite some time. Formed seven years ago, they received some airplay in 2007 with their single The Indie War. It was this year though that their debut album, ‘Hard Pill to Swallow’ finally emerged. Has it been worth the wait?

Well, respectively no and yes. I say that because this is an album of two faces. The first is a disappointment. It seems occasionally under-written. Prostitute, for example, has the refrain “What would you do/ if no one knew/ just your money and you/ would you be a prostitute?” – While this may be an interesting 3am post-pub question, it certainly isn’t as profound as Hassle Merchants seem to think it is, given how the song works around it. On The Wolf  lead singer Donal Keaveney’s bare vocals seem to struggle with the songs tempo.

It’s not just the vocals/lyrics though. Glory to the DJ undergoes several tempo changes, yet it never seems to have a change in energy, while the drums and guitars seem to following a different beat on Run Rabbit Run. Red Raw is true to its name given how under-produced it sounds. It should come with a salmonella warning. Given that these tracks all appear at the start of the album, there is a nearly overwhelming temptation to turn off the CD right here.

That would be a mistake however, as a run of top quality tracks follow just after. A Man Without a Nation is similar in many ways to Run Rabbit Run except far better produced. Keaveney’s vocals are layered here to give them added power and the instrumental outro is fantastic. Indie War is the song on the album that gets the heart pumping, while Immaculate Consumption and Petrol Tank are both slow burners that take two varying, yet equally effective route’s.

It’s all the more disappointing after these songs that the album is ended by Dublin’s Screaming Murder, which has all the hallmarks of a song on the early part of the album, and Son of a Nun, which is just about saved by the outro.

In the end, ‘Hard Pill to Swallow’ is, well a hard pill to swallow: there is plenty here that will do some good, but too much surrounding it make it tough to stomach. Hassle Merchants do not necessarily have to go back to the drawing board, but definitely need to analyse what they’re good at and re-focus. This album is certainly not a ‘must have’ but suggests the possibility of the band producing one in the future.