On Hedley’s self-titled Universal Music debut, one can easily tell frontman Jacob Hoggard is a rocker — but not off his rocker.Stories about his antics include urine, birthday cakes, thongs, tampons, and breaking stuff, but you’ll have to get the circumstances out of him or he’ll create new ones for you. That's just the kind of guy he is — unpredictable, wacky, obnoxious, over-the-top, and charming. His nuttiness is not mean or malicious, rather at his own expense.
His Vancouver-based bandmates — bassist Tommy Mac (ex Flybanger, Everything After), guitarist Dave Rosin (ex Day Theory, Everything After), and drummer Chris Crippin (ex Bif Naked, Everything After) — have no idea what's in store when Hedley hits the road in support of the 11-song album, which is a good thing in this often dull 21st-century rock world.
Beyond Jacob's jackass nature, his voice sets him apart, a nasally, earnest, melodic rock style that can be heard on both singles, the fervent “On My Own” which is at CHR/Hot AC radio and the pumping “Villain” for rock radio. On “Street Fight,” his 15-minutes of fame denouncement, Jacob comes out swinging with a kind of punk passion, while in the full-out-throttle of the ball-and-chain meltdown “321,” he tells the girl how it is with both anger and regret. On the gun-toting tale "Johnny Falls," he lowers his voice to an almost maniacal level, while on the soaring spiritual ballad, "Trip," he displays an uncharacteristic sensitivity and beauty.
Indeed, Jacob’s voice and presence are one of a kind.
"Hands down, he's the best frontman I've ever worked with," says Hedley's Tommy. "He's the kind of guy that walks in a room and everybody's eyes are on him. With Jake, it's basically what you see is what you get and usually you see way too much (laughs)."
What some people might not expect from Jacob, who made 2004's season of Canadian Idol a cooler affair with his punk approach to cover songs and said goodbye after climbing to the top 3, is that the lip-ringed ham is hardworking and knows when to buckle down, as he did in the studio for the self-titled album