This is a review of "16 Year Divide" recorded by Hatch. The review was written by Tony Pasquariello in 2001.

When I received this EP from Dave I knew absolutely nothing about Hatch or their music so this is a new experience for me! On first listen to this CD I think they have a sound somewhat similar to the Stone Roses earlier material.

Listening to the title track "16 Year Divide" I was quite intrigued by the interesting rhythms on the drums at the beginning and the 52-second intro! I was very impressed with the lead vocals on this track and there was some quite stunning guitar work, but there was no real variation in the song structure. The mix of the song really let it down too as it didn't show the band at its best.

On the 2nd track the mix improved greatly and you could pick out each instrument clearly. Again this had a very long intro before the vocals entered. Some nice quiet verses building up with a powerful chorus. Interesting guitar effects on the choruses towards the end of the song. The only thing that let this song down was the amount of delay on the vocals throughout the whole song. This song didn't progress from the 1st song really.

On the 3rd track there were some rather strange effects being employed by the guitarist. This track also employs keyboards and acoustic guitar. The guitars should have been louder in the verses to bring the vocals out a little bit more. The vocals on this track are sometimes off key slightly, which lets the song down. This song was a progression from the 2 previous songs and drove along nicely.

The 4th track, in my opinion, was their best track on the EP and really should have opened the EP with this track. Again the guitar work on this track is very effective, basic but effective. I was very impressed by the lead vocals on this track and think they brought the track to life.

Hatch do have talent both vocally and playing together. The music is played very tightly but the mixing of the CD lets them down which is a shame because there are some good songs on here.