record reviews:

The Hourly Radio

History Will Never Hold Me

(Kirtland)

When I began to read the press release that came with History Will Never Hold Me, I began to worry.  The first thing it said was that this band from Dallas doesn’t sound like anybody else, that they’re completely original.  “Well crap,” I thought, “How am I supposed to let people know what they sound like?”

Luckily, that wasn’t, in fact, the case.  Although The Hourly Radio are original, and it took me awhile, I did eventually figure it out: they sound like Placebo crossed with Snow Patrol.  Not only is the sound of the band reminiscent of Placebo, the lead singer, Aaron Closson, sounds a lot like Placebo’s lead singer Brian Molko.  Not in every song, but there are definitely times when he’s channeling Molko.

The album starts out with a slow song that has no lyrics.  I’m not sure why bands seem to like starting out their albums like this, but I’ve for sure noticed this trend lately.  It makes for an odd beginning, and doesn’t give the listener a clear idea of what’s coming for them.

The rest of the songs are fast paced, very emo, very ‘80s influenced, very post punk.  They’re all well constructed and orchestrated.  But back to Closson, the lead singer, now that you have an idea of what they sound like.  Closson has that interesting characteristic of attempting to sound British, despite being from Texas.  I’ve thought about this phenomenon before.  When you listen to many British rock/pop bands, the singer loses his accent trying to sound like the American bands that he grew up listening to.  But he still doesn’t sound entirely American.  Now, here’s where things get interesting, because, like Closson, bands these days have started singing like those British bands, which means American singers are attempting some sort of Brit-influenced fake American accent.  I can’t wait to see the UK bands that will try to emulate these American bands in ten years.  It will be never ending, and eventually we won’t be able to understand anybody.

Regardless, The Hourly Radio, if they can keep up their songwriting and their original sound, will go down in History.

— Amber Henson

www.thehourlyradio.com

 

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