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Saturday, October 11, 2014

Left by Hope of the States


Album Reviews - Left by Hope of the States

Hope Of The States seem to be running twice as fast as other bands. Skipping straight past the barely-refined-demos stage, the Chichester combo revealed a fully-formed post-rock landscape on 2004's debut ‘The Lost Riots’. Two years on, and in keeping with HOTS’ stated desire to “shrink everything down". ’Left’ is a leaner work then its predecessor and one in which the wide-eyed enchantment is restricted to just a handful of tracks. The fact they've taken their foot off the accelerator is understandable given guitarist Jimmi Lawrence's suicide just before the release of ’...Riots’, but as ’This Is A Question’ rushes along and ‘Bonfires’ bludgeons home its point, the band are left sounding like their wings have been clipped.
When HOTS occasionally do soar, however, they reach new highs: ‘Industry’ is a hypnotically pulsating tirade against the humdrum, ’The Good Fight' blends God Speed! You Back Emperor with a pub sing-a-long and ’The Church Choir”s wall of sound is pure, uncontained widescreen. Noble and determined, ’Left' proves that while HOTS are capable of stirring thoughts and emotions, it's only when they reach full throttle that they truly move hearts and minds.

Track Listings

01. Seconds
02. Blood Meridian
03. Sing It Out
04. Bonfires
05. The Good Fight
06. Left
07. Industry
08. This Is A Question
09. Little Silver Birds
10. Four
11. January
12. Forwardirektion
13. The Church Choir

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