Hundred Reasons - No Way Back (Single)
Wikipedia describes Hundred Reasons' music as 'Post-Hardcore', and at one point in their now-considerable career, it may have been. "No Way Back" is the lead single for their fourth album "Quick The Word, Sharp The Action", although how representative it is of the album is anyone's guess.
This single gives nothing away – it has clean production, solid if unremarkable musicality, and a pretty good riff underlying the predictable lyrics. It could easily become the credits music for some fly-in-the-high-school MTV programme full of rich American teenagers, which in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Unless you're a band with an established fan base waiting for the next "Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge".
While you listen to it, "No Way Back"s catchy lyrical refrain is easily hummable, which makes you think you'd remember it after you heard it. Which you do. For approximately ten seconds. Then you listen to it again, humming away, and then it's gone again.
This track will earn Hundred Reasons a whole new audience for their music, although it does risk alienating their existing fans. If you liked "Kill Your Own", there's a good chance that this steady, simple slice of angst-rock will be right up your street. 'Commercialised' (boo hiss) it may be, in comparison to earlier offerings, but it's not actually bad. Far from it. This is a song that will do really well on the radio, and thus will probably fulfil its role of shifting albums. So, happy fans = happy record company.
This is the sound of an established band both trying to progress and trying to retain commercial viability. Hundred Reasons may not be the hardcore pioneers that earnt them their reputation, but when they do make radio-friendly pop-rock for the Kerrang! audience, they do it well.