New twist on nineties pop-punk.
Hope & State are a London-based pop-punk band who suffer the double indignity of a shoestring budget and the determination to cram their music with messages. What they’ve done with that remit is remarkable. Pop-punk may have had its heyday in the late nineties, but it’s refreshing to hear a band try to take the genre somewhere new. It’s not particularly original, but here is a collection of four solid riffs and surprisingly thoughtful (to varying degrees of success) lyrics.
‘London, Oh London’ is a slow starter, a strange mix of British lyrics and a distinctly American flavour to the music. The drum riffs are excellent, and drive the song to greater heights by the end. ‘At The Sight Of You’ and ‘The Ever True’ are pleasant but unmemorable filler. Hope & State have been quick to realise that their strengths lie in vocal melodies and keeping the music sweet and simple, then building the songs to anthemic endings. Good for the occasional listen, but you wouldn’t go out of your way to replay them.
The best song on the EP is the very different ‘Grand Gestures’ which belies more than just pop-punk influences and a more rock or indie approach to the tune. Powerful and punchy, it’s full of promise that the band can take their music in a more original and interesting direction in the future. This EP is far from perfect and too full of their influences, but there’s a spark here.