It’s been almost two years since ex-Weekend Nachos frontman John Hoffman released Cold Hard Concrete, the debut studio album from his sludge/doom project Ledge. Now, Hoffman has returned with a second album called All I Hope For, out August 30 on Translation Loss.
Hoffman is at his most hateful on “Hanged,” available to stream exclusively through Decibel, combining angry, growled vocals with pulverizing, chunky sludge riffs. Decibel spoke with Hoffman—who performs bass, drums and vocals in Ledge—about All I Hope For, Weekend Nachos and more. Check it out below.
There were certain albums by Weekend Nachos that were more strictly a vision of mine and a deeper look into my core, such as Unforgivable and the Bleed EP. Those albums were heavier and much more hateful, where as other Nachos albums were quirkier and more tongue-in-cheek/almost satirical in a way. Ledge kind of expands on the darker side of Weekend Nachos and pushes it further. I don’t think there is anything funny or quirky about LEDGE, honestly.
What influences you when writing music for Ledge, whether it be other music or something else in your life?
Eyehategod, Corrupted and Electric Wizard influence the music 100%, and society influences the lyrics/ideas. There is absolutely no joy that goes into it and that’s why it turns out the way it does.
All I Hope For is your second full-length. Did you approach the writing or recording process differently than for Cold Hard Concrete?
Yeah, I wanted this album to sound less produced and more dirty. We relied a lot more heavily on a room mic for the drums in order to bring out some rawness. I wanted Cold Hard Concrete to sound meaty and tough like a Crowbar record, but I decided All I Hope For needed to sound uglier. Less like an ugly dude at the gym and more like an ugly dude in a dumpster. As for the writing, I tried to dig a little deeper into myself in order to make this album and the result was something more miserable than the first album.
The track we’re premiering today, “Hanged,” is the third song on All I Hope For. Is what we hear indicative of the sound on the rest of the album?
Honestly, I wouldn’t say so. There is a variety, and “Hanged” is just one track. I really prefer it that way.
