01 - Stance Gives You Power 02 - Interlude : Starting The Club Down 03 - Stance Gives You Balance 04 - Interlude : Reading The Greens 05 - Iron Shots (For Accuracy) 06 - Interlude : Diagonal Stance 07 - To Henry Picard - An Outstanding Teacher, An Outstanding Player And An Outstanding Man 08 - Reading The Greens [Extended Version]
Source's preview
Hogan Grip (DeclanQKelly and Tony Higgins aka junior85) is a duo born in a charity shop in the westside of Galway city on a warm June afternoon, in which was found an old, yellowing copy of Ben Hogan's seminal instructional golf book “Power Golf” (Corgi Press, 1958).
Inspired first by the exquisite line drawings and evocative chapter names and later (upon closer examination of the book's actual text) by Hogan's avuncular, firm-but-fair teaching technique and his touching dedication to a friend (Henry Picard) in the opening chapter, the band Hogan Grip came to fruition.
The music is based mostly on hurried improvisation, with the main parts of the songs composed and recorded in Tony's sitting room - DeclanQKelly played keys and guitar and Tony Higgins played drums, bass and keys. Additional magic occurred in Tony's bedroom where he made the songs go whoosh with extra instrumentation and magical mastering.
All the song titles for the EP were taken from phrases or chapter titles in the book (except “Stance Gives You Power”, which was merely Tony's mis-remembering of “Stance Gives You Balance” that just stuck around). Though the resulting music bears little direct relation to “Power Golf”, we believe it was conceived and executed in the spirit of the book, summed up in the last chapter 'Now it's up to you'. It contained 'Eight hints on how to lower your score', which include such golden tips as “PLAY SAFE IF YOU CAN'T GET A CLEAN SHOT”; “COMMON SENSE” and “DON'T BE AFRAID”. “LEARN TO PLAY THE SAND WEDGE” and “USE A CLUB WITH ENOUGH LOFT” were perhaps not so relevant to our cause but were duly noted and applied vigorously to other areas of our lives.Most importantly, we learned that most people hit the outside of the ball instead of the back of it.
Armed with this knowledge we are, admittedly, no better off generally, but feel there is at least something about ourselves we ought to be in some way improving. Which is as good a reason as any to go on living.