There’s little enjoy more than doing things their own way. Whether it’s announcing a last-minute headline show and selling it out before the night arrives, or writing and recording a song in the space of a single day, the London four-piece have never seemed particularly interested in following a conventional route. Instead, they’ve carved out a place for themselves through instinct, experimentation and a healthy disregard for the rules. It’s an approach that has made them something of a cult favourite within the capital’s DIY scene, but with their debut album ‘Hero Weak Thing’, they’re making a convincing case for something much bigger. 

Led by Dundee-born Lola Stephen, alongside Claryn Chong, George Frederick and Ash Cooper, Hank’s story is one of constant reinvention. The band began as Lola’s project, initially taking shape through her songwriting partnership with Pip, a longstanding friend and collaborator. Before Hank, Lola had already been finding her feet in London’s music community, writing , a zine celebrating female and non-binary musicians, and booking shows at venues including Shacklewell Arms and MOTH Club. Ash, meanwhile, wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of joining. “I didn’t think the band would be really good, and then it turned out to be,” he laughs. After being persuaded to join on the understanding that he’d eventually be replaced, he’s still here four or five years later. 

The current line-up only came together last year, following a string of different members and configurations. Claryn had previously made a music video for the band, making her an obvious choice when they needed a bassist, while George came through an online callout for guitarists. After meeting him in a pub, Lola apparently needed little convincing. “He’s the one,” she declared. It’s perhaps fitting that Hank’s identity has never been particularly fixed. Each member brings a different musical background and a set of influences, creating something that feels like a carefully assembled project and more like a meeting of distinct creative insights. As Ash puts it, there’s something powerful about a band that hasn’t come together as childhood friends with a predetermined idea of what they want to achieve. With Hank, things have been allowed to happen naturally.

‘That same sense of movement runs through ‘Hero Weak Thing’. Following their debut EP ‘Twist Grip’ (2024) and a subsequent release ‘Spirallic’ (2025), the album represents a more solidified version of the band, without sacrificing the unpredictability that made their earlier work so compelling. With George and Clary joining towards the end of last summer, the group decided to record a full-length album within six months. For Lola, the resulting nine tracks are a snapshot of that particular period in their lives. “I’m too impatient to sit on stuff for ages,” she admits. It’s an attitude that makes sense when you consider how Hank operate: rather than obsessively refining an idea until it loses its original character, they’re more interested in capturing something while it’s still alive. 

Recorded at with producer , whose previous work includes and , the album was made without a collection of carefully prepared demos. Instead, the band arrived with loose ideas and developed them together in the studio. Jamie, who has worked with Hank across their releases, has become something of an unofficial fifth member. “I’m very much not about details, but he is,” Lola explains. His attention to the finer points of recording provides a useful counterbalance to the band’s more instinctive approach, encouraging them to experiment with drum machines, samples and unexpected sounds rather than relying on conventional arrangements. For Ash, the studio is also an opportunity to indulge his favourite habit: going completely overboard. Thankfully, there’s someone around to occasionally pull them back.

That willingness to take things too far is central to Hank’s appeal. Their music is interested in the tension between something abrasive and something unexpectedly beautiful. Across ‘Hero Weak Thing’, distorted guitars and noisy arrangements are repeatedly softened by melodic turns and more delicate vocal moments. It’s a balance Lola actively seeks out. “I want to make a song that sounds kind of horrible and that’s teetering on the edge before I pull it back a bit with something pretty and nice to level it out.” Singles ‘Crashing 8’ and ‘Claryn’s Song’ offer different entry points into this approach, demonstrating that the band’s appetite for noise doesn’t come at the expense of songwriting. For Hank, the melody matters just as much as the distortion. 

There’s also a particularly collaborative quality to the record, with almost every member stepping forward to lead a track. Rather than assigning vocal duties according to a fixed hierarchy, the process tends to happen organically. Lola describes giving Claryn and George the guitar line for ‘Fixed’, a reworking of ‘Temp Fix’ from ‘Spirallic’, simply because she’d heard her own interpretation too many times. Sometimes, handing something over is the best way to discover what it could become. The lyrics, however, remain an individual pursuit, with each vocalist approaching its melody in entirely different ways. It’s a small but telling example of what makes the band’s dynamic work: individuality isn’t something they need to iron out – it’s something they actively encourage. 

For all its experimentation, ‘Hero Weak Thing’ remains deeply connected to the community that helped Hank grow. Lola and Ash have spent many years immersed in London’s smaller venues, supporting friends’ bands and putting together bills with musicians they admire. Their shows have become an extension of that ethos, less concerned with maintaining an air of mystery than creating an atmosphere that audiences can actively participate in. Ash described a gig as a two-way experience, one in which the energy between the band and the room is constantly being exchanged. It’s an approach that has helped them develop a following beyond their immediate circle, taking them from intimate London venues to their Primavera Sound debut and performances further afield in Europe. 

Ultimately, ‘Hero Weak Thing’ feels less like a band announcing they’ve arrived than one discovering just how much further they can go. Lola already sees it as the beginning of Hank’s life as a four-piece, rather than a culmination of everything that’s come before. They’re even beginning work on a second album, with plans for further UK shows and, eventually, more time playing abroad. For Ash, every release is its own moment in time, a new chapter in a story that doesn’t necessarily need a predetermined ending. It’s an appealing way of thinking about a band whose greatest strength might be their refusal to stand still. On ‘Hero Weak Thing’, Hank sound entirely comfortable being uncomfortable and that’s precisely where their possibilities begin. 

‘Hero Weak Thing’ will be released on November 27th.